Online ad traffic measurement terms have evolved over the years from hits to page views to unique visitors to time spent. Trouble is, without industry standards, there is still no sure way to account for accurate website traffic and, in turn, be accurately measuring online advertising traffic.

Despite the imprecision of online ad traffic measurement tools, you still need to employ methods to measure ad traffic so you know if your marketing and advertising efforts are working.

When you think about measuring ad traffic, consider what you want the traffic to mean in terms of:

1. Referrals to your website. Are you targeting a particular web user profile to visit your site or will anyone do?
2. Sales leads. Do you have a way to collect potential customer information on your website?
3. Conversion rates. When a visitor arrives at your website, is there a clear call to action? Do you want them to buy something or simply sign up for your newsletter?

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use a third party to help you measure ad traffic

Gain a clear perspective of who your website visitors are and what they do while on your website with tools from market research firms. Once you know who visits your site and what they do while they are there, measuring advertising traffic will be effective.

I recommend: Nielsen/Net Ratings has several online advertising measurement solutions to increase the return on investment. With ComScore’s tools you can access online user behavior to help you build effective online marketing campaigns.

Try free web tools for online ad traffic measurement

There are several free tools to help you measure online ad traffic and how visitors convert to customers. Consider comparing the online traffic measurement information these tools provide with that of your own internal web logs to determine your online advertising traffic.

I recommend: Google Analytics provides a product tour to help you understand how their tools work to help you measure online advertising traffic. Quantcast and Compete can assist in measuring advertising traffic for you, the sites you advertise on and your competitors’ web sites.

Calculate the cost of generating ad traffic

You can employ great online advertising measurement tools and in turn generate loads of traffic but then blow your budget. You need to know how much each ad impression costs so you can implement an online advertising campaign that generates sales leads and fits in your budget.

I recommend: Don’t Blink provides a free cost per thousand calculator and defines online advertising terms. ClickZ also has a CPM calculator and provides other resources, like a list of software that can help you analyze and measure ad traffic.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Prepare your website to convert visitors into customers. Ensure an enjoyable visitor experience and add a clear call to action on your site.
• •  Consider social media sites for advertising. Social media sites give you a range of options to target your advertising message by location or interests, allowing you to measure ad traffic from you target customers.
• •  Don't count out email marketing. Measuring advertising traffic may prove simpler with email marketing. Email marketing tools can give you instant feedback on who has opened your email and who has clicked through to your web site.
• •  Advertise with local online media. If you are trying to reach a targeted, local audience, consider advertising with a local media outlet with an online presence. Be sure to provide incentives in your ad for potential customers to mention the advertisement to help test and measure your ad.