6 - How Good are You at Making Noise?

The author uses the term "making noise" as a blanket term for site promotion - advertising, promotion, brand marketing, etc.

Examples are given of companies who establish multiple Web sites for their various consumer brands rather than wrapping it all up under the corporate site. In fact, this can be effective in separating the traffic and better serving the users in addition to providing more specific metrics. The people who visit a "corporate" site tend to be investors and journalists, whereas those who visit a product site tend to be real consumers.

It's also important to note that online traffic doesn't happen in a vacuum. Your Web site traffic and usage patterns will be affected by things that occur offline - your traditional marketing efforts, media mentions, etc. - that cannot be measured by looking at your server statistics alone.

He also strays for a moment into the topic of reputation management - keeping an eye out for what is being said about your company by other people, in other venues. He's very superficial and not authoritative on this subject - probably the only germane point is that mentions on other sites affect your traffic, and may affect the kinds of users who visit.

Another method of noise-making unique to the Web is search engine and directory listings. In the real world, you control this (it's rare than anyone gives you a free ad, or a free yellow-pages listing, without your knowledge) and its impact is minimal. Online, references from search engines and directories are a major source of traffic, and having a high-visibility listing in search engines can have a major influence on your traffic.