The Art of URLs in Print

Recently I wrote an article on ways to leave your stamp offline, without going too much into the obvious print advertising option, but a study conducted by the Magazine Publishers of America inspired me to write this article for WebProNews.

People seemed to take some interest in this article over the weekend, so I thought, why not tackle the subject for my loyal SmallBusinessNewz readers?

The study found that print ads that contain URLs are up to three times as likely to drive readers to a company’s website than ads that don’t include them.

It seems obvious that an ad with a URL would inspire more web traffic than one without, but…

Are you including one in your print ads?

If your answer is yes, then good for you. Is you domain name up to par though? Is it easy for a reader to remember in between the time they are reading the magazine/newspaper/etc. and when they sit down to get online? I believe the URL itself can play an important role in whether or not readers act upon it.

If your answer is no, then why not? Perhaps you don’t have a website, and perhaps if you do, it’s not really ready for primetime, which is a problem that should obviously be addressed before you promote it heavily. Maybe it just hasn’t occurred to you. Maybe your site is really just another advertisement so you don’t see the point.

Your site should be more than an ad for your site. You should really be offering your goods/services online if you aren’t already.

Another URL Tactic

Back to the actual URL for a moment. It pays to have a memorable one, but another strategy to use that Helen Leggatt at BizReport suggests is to use a different URL for each campaign, or possibly each publication. As an example, she cites a recent Burger King campaign which uses the domain haveityourway.com which redirects to bk.com, but hits a different landing page than the company’s regular burgerking.com.

This brings up another point, which was also raised in a comment on the WebProNews article. Using specific landing pages within your site that directly correspond with your campaign can also inspire action. If a reader sees that it is not just your homepage, which they have possibly been to before, it might peak their curiosity and inspire them to see just what you have in store for them.

If you advertise in print publications, I’d be curious to hear about your campaigns, particularly whether or not they include URLs and what kinds of landing page strategies you use. Please share in the comments.