Enough is Enough! It's Time To Blow The Lid Off Exaggerated Web Site "Hit Rate" Claims

claims? Let's talk about this since there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about this topic and a lot of BS than needs to be cleaned up.

A "hit" can be defined as many different things, a visit, a file loading etc. What constitutes a hit can means different things to different people, so be sure to find out how a prospective advertising service defines a hit to their site. This will provide you with a way to verify if the service provider is not just picking at random, some "sounds good" number, but has an actual legitimate way of recording the number of hits and explanation of how they were generated.

Hits to a site are recorded with a hit rate counter. Here's how it works. The Internet user types in a URL (web address) or clicks on a hyperlink and is transported electronically to a page on the Internet. For example the person types in the URL of the Worldprofit Malls, http://www.worldprofit.com When the page is loaded, the computer where the page is stored records a hit. Most systems have a very simple CGI script that allows this hit rate number to be kept in a log or displayed somewhere on the web page. This is the most basic (and in our opinion), most honest method of recording a visit or exposure to a page. However, there is a big problem with certain types of hit counters that many advertising services are using to their advantage, and the potential advertiser is none the wiser. Some counters are activated at a set figure. For example when the counter is installed it is started at a set number. For example it is started at 5 million and each hit is added on to that number. A little misleading eh? Some counters are set up to record not only one hit per one visit, but also each time graphics on that page are loaded and each time a file is loaded. For example if you logged onto a web site that had 10 graphics on the page and 10 file hyperlinks were accessed, this one visit would count as 21 hits to that page. 21 hits are logged despite the fact that in reality only one person has visited that page one time. Are you starting to see how a counter can be configured to report a high number of hits yet really only a percentage of the total number are an actual user visit?

Now the fact that hit rate counters are configured differently is not the dishonest part. It is the fact that some advertising services use this kind of multiple hit rate counter to report a highly exaggerated hit rate to potential advertisers. The unknowing prospect then selects this service on the logic that an advertising service with a high hit rate means better success for their individual home page. Good logic but it crumbles if the hits are an exaggerated number that cannot be validated with actual proof of promotion and actual visits.

A better term than hits is "visits" or "exposures." At Worldprofit our definition of a hit is ONE visit. This means that when prospects visit the Worldprofit Malls home page this visit is recorded as one hit. It doesn't matter if 10 graphics are loaded, or 50 pages are viewed. One visit is still recorded as only one hit. Another problem which dominates the advertising business on the Internet are the service providers that rave "Our Mall gets 4 million hits per month." How do you verify these kinds of bold statements? Well here's the secret. Ask the provider to verify in writing (by e-mail to you) where exactly they advertise in the print, television of radio media, and what is the circulation of each. If the advertising service in question doesn't do any promotion (or very little) in the print media, then be wary of huge hit rate claims. Promotion on the Internet is simply not enough, there must also be promotion in traditional media forms. Our local TV station in Edmonton, capital city of Alberta (pop. 900,000 people) reports that they get about 30,000 visitors each month- this is a very decent number. I can personally verify that they broadcast their site address to 300,000 people at least once a day, every day on the local news. They have their web site address listed in the local papers and their web address is promoted on the radio a couple times a week. Now the fact that I can validate their hit rate claim makes it highly believable that they are getting the number of visits that they report. Their site is highly promoted outside of the Internet and can be proved. So when I hear a "4 million hits a month" claim by a certain advertising service that does very little promotion outside of Internet, while a television station with access to mass exposure gets only 30,000 hits a month, I begin to seriously question the accuracy of the "4 million a month" claim - you should do the same.

Many Internet advertising services while providing a good basic service don't do a lot of promotion of their web site address outside of the Internet. Most will claim that the majority of their "hits" are from their dealer promotions and from their advanced registration on the Internet. Hmm... so what's their secret? Well they like to profit from that fact that the Internet is in its infancy and it's difficult to verify the numbers they quote. My opinion on this matter is simple. If an advertising service cannot prove (or is unwilling to disclose) in writing their total circulation in the print medium then don't waste your money. No promotion - no hits. With over 23 million home pages on the Internet currently you'll need more than luck for someone to find your specific site. To put this into perspective for you, Microsoft, Yahoo and Netscape get millions of hits per month. It's not hard to see how they accomplish this and where they are promoting their web site address. Turn on any television, watch any computer show, pick up any computer magazine and you'll read or hear about one of these companies. Their promotional efforts are obvious, their hit rates astronomical and the cost to advertise at their sites - staggering.

In summary, remember, common sense is always your strongest ally. Talk with prospective advertising services and make an informed assessment of what you are going to get for your hard earned money. If you are given an arrogant brush off, or a vague response that they are too BIG to explain things or that they never display a counter on their main page for such and such a reason, here is what you do. Quickly reset the phone on its holder and find a service that answers your questions, is reasonably priced, provides a hit counter and definition of its use, and that is willing to prove their web site promotional efforts.