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Web Traffic
Web traffic is a broad term used to conceptualize the ways to gauge the data shared with, and received from, people visiting a website. Public relations practitioners monitor Web traffic to understand how people are using an organization's website, which pages within the website are most popular with visitors, and whether there are noteworthy problems or preferences among users.
In evaluating website effectiveness, there are numerous ways to measure Web traffic. These include the number of users visiting a site, the number of pages each user accesses within the site, and the average length of a visit to the website. A public relations practitioner may also be interested in which pages are most and least popular, as well as where the traffic came from on the Internet when it arrives at the organization's website. Search engine optimization is one of several methods for helping increase Web traffic.
Further Readings
(2008). PR 2.0: New media, new tools, new audiences. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press.
(2009). Public relations and the social Web: How to use social media and Web 2.0 in communications. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page.
(2001). Improving public relations Web sites through usability research. Public Relations Review, 27 (2), 223–239. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111%2801%2900082-0
(2011). The new rules of marketing & PR: How to use social media, online video, mobile applications, blogs, news releases, and viral marketing to reach buyers directly. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
, & (2003). The Internet and public relations: Investigating practitioners’ roles and World Wide Web use. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 80, 603–622. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/107769900308000308
- Crisis Communication and Management
- Cyberspace
- Ethics
- Global Public Relations
- Nation Building
- Africa, Practice of Public Relations in
- Australia and New Zealand, Practice of Public Relations in
- Brazil, Practice of Public Relations in
- Canada, Practice of Public Relations in
- China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Practice of Public Relations in
- Eastern Europe, Practice of Public Relations in
- Europe, Practice of Public Relations in
- European Association of Communication Directors
- Germany, Practice of Public Relations in
- Giving, Donations, and Globalism
- Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management
- Globalization and Public Relations
- Globalize
- India, Practice of Public Relations in
- Institute for Public Relations
- International Public Relations Association
- Israel, Practice of Public Relations in
- Korea, Practice of Public Relations in
- Latin America, Practice of Public Relations in
- Nation Branding
- South Africa, Practice of Public Relations in
- Spain, Practice of Public Relations in
- Sustainability as a Global Challenge
- Sweden, Practice of Public Relations in
- United Kingdom, Practice of Public Relations in
- Groups
- History
- Cutlip, Scott M.
- Evolution of Publicity Agencies
- Fleischman, Doris Elsa
- Four-Minute Men
- Hammond, George
- Harlow, Rex
- Hill, John Wiley
- Histories of Public Relations
- Industrial Barons (of the 1870s-1920s)
- Lucky Strike Green Campaign
- Muckrakers (and the Age of Progressivism)
- Nineteenth-Century Trends in Public Relations
- Page, Arthur W.
- Plank, Betsy
- Propaganda
- Public Relations Education, History of
- Railroad Industry in the 19th Century
- Regulated Monopolies
- Tallents, Sir Stephen
- Twentieth-Century Trends and Innovations in Public Relations
- Vail, Theodore Newton
- Jargon
- Entertainment Industry Publicity/Promotion
- Risk Communication
- Account Executive
- Account Manager/Account Management
- Accreditation
- Actuality
- Advance
- Annual Reports
- AP Style
- APR
- Association for Women in Communication
- Backgrounder
- Beat
- Benchmarking
- Best Practices
- Bill Stuffer
- Bio
- Boxed Print
- Bridge
- Brochure
- Byline
- Campaign
- Caption/Cutline
- Chat
- Circulation
- Client
- Co-Optation
- Collateral
- Commodifying Information
- Community Reports
- Composing/Composition
- Copy
- Copyright
- Corporate Branding
- Counseling
- Credits
- Culture
- De-Positioning
- Deadline
- Differentiation
- Direct Mail/Direct Email
- Doublespeak
- Editing
- Editorial
- Employee Communication
- Endorsement
- Environmental Scanning
- Event Management
- External Publications
- Fact Sheet
- FAQs
- Feature
- Flack
- Flame
- Flier
- Font
- Frame
- Freelance Writers
- Functions of Public Relations
- Fundraising
- Ghostwriting
- Goals
- Goodwill
- Government Public Relations
- Government Relations
- Graphics
- Hearing
- Hold and Hold for Release
- Home Page
- Hotline
- Human Interest
- Hype
- Identification
- Image
- Impressions
- Infomercial
- Internal Communication
- Internship
- Interview as a Communication Tool
- Investor Relations
- Issues Management
- Layout
- Legitimacy and Legitimacy Gap
- Lobbying
- Localize
- Logo
- Material Information
- Media Calls
- Media Conferences
- Media Effects
- Media Relations
- Media Release
- Mentoring
- Military Public Relations
- Mission and Vision Statements
- Multimedia
- Mutually Beneficial Relationship
- New Business Development
- News Services
- News Story
- News/Newsworthy
- Newsletter
- Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Objectives
- Op-Ed
- Openness
- Opportunity and Threat
- Organizational Identity and Persona
- Pamphlet
- Parent/Student Newsletter
- Perjury
- Philanthropy
- Photo-Op
- Photosharing
- Pitch Letter
- Political Public Relations
- Political Speech
- Portfolio
- Position and Positioning
- Practice
- Presidential Press Secretaries
- Press Agentry
- Press Kit
- Privatizing Public Opinion (and “Publictizing” Private Opinion)
- Proactivity and Reactivity
- Program/Action Plans
- Promotion
- Propaganda
- Public Affairs
- Public Interest
- Public Opinion and Opinion Leaders
- Public Policy Planning
- Public Relations Agency
- Public Sector
- Public Service Announcements
- Publicist
- Publicity
- Publics
- Puffery
- Pyramid Style
- Religious Organizations and Public Relations
- Reputation Management
- Return on Investment
- Sampling
- Sandbagging
- Scales
- Search Engine
- Segmentation of Publics
- Social Media Press Release
- Society
- Sound Bite
- Speakers Bureaus
- Speechwriting
- Spin
- Sports Public Relations
- Stewardship of Large Organizations
- Straight News
- Strain
- Strategies
- Stylebook
- Survey
- Symmetry
- Tactics
- Tagline
- Target
- Terrorism and Public Relations
- Third-Party Endorsement
- Trade Associations
- Transparency
- Wire Service
- Writing
- Zones of Meaning
- Law
- Management
- Catalytic Model of Issues Management
- Chase Model of Issue Management
- Communication Management
- Discrimination in Public Relations
- Employee Communication
- Executive Management
- Goals
- Government Public Relations
- Government Relations
- Internal Communication
- Investor Relations
- Issue Management Council
- Issues Management
- Management Theory
- Market Share
- Matrixing/Matrix Management
- Military Public Relations
- Mutually Beneficial Relationship
- New Business Development
- Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Objectives
- Organizational Identity and Persona
- PERT Chart
- Political Public Relations
- Presidential Press Secretaries
- Professional and Professionalism
- Professional Project of Public Relations
- Professionalism in Public Relations
- Program/Action Plans
- Public Policy Planning
- Public Relations Agency
- Public Relations Department
- Publicly Held Companies
- Reflective Management
- Relationship Management Theory
- Religious Organizations and Public Relations
- Reputation
- Reputation Management
- Return on Investment
- Speakers Bureaus
- Sports Public Relations
- Stewardship of Large Organizations
- Strategic Business Planning
- Terrorism and Public Relations
- Transparency
- Zones of Meaning
- Marketing Communication and Advertising
- Media
- New Media
- Aggregator News Search
- App
- Astroturfing
- Authenticity on Social Media
- Black/Dark Websites
- Blogs, Vlogs, and Microblogs
- Chat
- Citizen Journalism/Reporting
- Content Aggregation
- Crowdsourcing
- Discursive Technology
- Flogging
- Forum, Online
- Gaming/Playspace/Social Gaming
- Infographics
- Information Retrieval System
- Interactivity (Audience)
- Knowledge Networks
- Media Fragmentation
- Memes
- Mobile Technology and Public Relations
- Photosharing
- Podcasts/Audio Sharing
- Really Simple Syndication
- Search Engine Optimization
- Short Message Service
- Social Media
- Social Network Analysis
- Social Networking
- Social Networks/Niche Networks
- Sockpuppet
- Trolling
- Video News Release
- Virtual World Sites
- Web 2.0
- Web Traffic
- Wiki
- News
- Organizations
- Activism
- Association for Women in Communication
- Business Wire
- Clip (News Clip) and Clipping Services
- Committee on Public Information
- Eastern Europe, Practice of Public Relations in
- EDGAR Online
- Editor and Publisher
- European Public Relations Education and Research Society
- Evolution of Publicity Agencies
- Front Groups
- Institute for Public Relations
- International Association of Business Communicators
- International Public Relations Association
- Issue Management Council
- National Black Public Relations Society
- National Investor Relations Institute
- News Services
- Public Relations Society of America
- Public Relations Student Society of America
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- Practitioners
- Relations
- Africa, Practice of Public Relations in
- Alumni Relations
- Annual Reports
- Australia and New Zealand, Practice of Public Relations in
- Canada, Practice of Public Relations in
- Client-Agency Relationships
- College and University Public Relations
- Community Relations
- Consumer/Customer Relations
- Europe, Practice of Public Relations in
- Follower/Member Newsletter
- Giving, Donations, and Globalism
- Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management
- Globalization and Public Relations
- Globalize
- Institute for Public Relations
- International Public Relations Association
- Labor Union Public Relations
- Latin America, Public Relations Practice in
- Managing the Corporate Public Relations Department
- Minorities in Public Relations
- Nation Branding
- Nation Building
- National Black Public Relations Society
- Online Public Relations
- Postcolonialism Theory and Public Relations
- Public Relations
- Public Relations Society of America
- Public Relations Student Society of America
- South Africa, Practice of Public Relations in
- Spain, Practice of Public Relations in
- Sustainability as a Global Challenge
- Sweden, Practice of Public Relations in
- Travel and Tourism Public Relations
- United Kingdom, Practice of Public Relations in
- United States Government and Public Relations
- Voter and Constituent Relations
- Warfare and Public Relations
- Research and Analysis
- Analytics
- Audience Monitoring
- Benchmarking
- Case Study
- Clip (News Clip) and Clipping Services
- Communication Audit and Auditing
- Content Analysis
- Demographics
- Evaluative Research
- Experiment/Experimental Methods
- Focus Group
- Formative Research
- Gantt Chart
- Gross Impressions
- Interview as a Research Tool
- Mean and Median
- Measuring/Measures
- Process Research
- Psychographics
- Public Relations Field Dynamics
- Public Relations Research
- Qualitative Research
- Quantitative Research
- Reliability
- Research Goals
- Research Objectives
- Situation Analysis
- Statistical Analysis
- Validity
- Risk Communication and Management
- Efficacy/Self-Efficacy
- Catalytic Model of Issues Management
- CAUSE Model of Risk Communication
- Citizens Advisory Committees/Panels
- Coalition Building
- Collaborative Decision Making
- Cultural Theory of Risk Communication
- Emergency Management
- Extended Parallel Process Model of Risk Communication
- Infrastructural Risk Communication
- Mental Models Approach to Risk Communication
- Precautionary Principle
- Public Health Campaign
- Resilient Communities
- Right to Know
- Risk Perception
- Risk Society
- Social Amplification of Risk
- Theories and Models
- Persuasion Theory
- Accommodation: Contingency Theory
- Advocacy
- Agenda-Setting Theory
- Anthropology and Public Relations
- Apologia Theory
- Archetypes and Rhetorical Theory
- Attribution Theory
- Barcelona Principles
- Bourdieu, Pierre, and Public Relations
- Chaos and Complexity Theory
- Circuit of Culture
- Civil Society
- Client-Agency Relationships
- Co-Creation of Meaning Theory
- Co-Orientation Theory
- Communitarianism
- Communitas/Corporatas
- Community and Community Building
- Conflict Resolution
- Constitutive Theory of Language
- Consumer/Customer Relations
- Contingency Theory
- Control
- Convergence and Public Relations
- Credibility
- Critical Discourse Analysis
- Critical Race Theory
- Critical Theory
- Cultural Flows and Public Relations
- Cultural Intelligence
- Cultural Topoi
- Culture
- Decision Theory
- Deliberative Democracy
- Dialogue
- Diffusion of Innovations Theory
- Discourse Theory and Analysis
- Diversity: Audiences
- Diversity: Public Relations Profession
- Dramatism and Dramatism Theory
- Ecology and Public Relations
- Empire, Public Relations and
- Encroachment in Public Relations
- Engagement (Stakeholders)
- Enlightenment and Modernity
- Ethnography of Public Relations
- European Communication Monitor
- European Social Theory and Public Relations
- Excellence Theory
- External Organizational Rhetoric
- Feminization Theory
- Field Theory
- Foucault, Michel, and Public Relations
- Framing Theory
- Fully Functioning Society Theory
- Futurism and Trend Analysis
- Game Theory
- Gender and Public Relations
- Geodemographics
- Habermas, Jürgen, on Public Relations
- Identity Theory
- Ideographs and Rhetorical Theory
- Impression Management Theory
- Information
- Information Integration Theory
- Intercultural Communication Theory
- Internet Contagion Theory
- Interpersonal Communication Theory
- Involvement
- Leadership and Public Relations
- Learning Theory
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Practitioners/Publics and Public Relations
- Marketplace of Ideas
- Media Culture and Public Relations
- Modernity and Late Modernity
- Motivation Theory
- Narrative Theory
- Neo-Institutional Theory
- Network Theory
- Paradox of the Positive/Negative
- Perspectivism Theory
- Political Economy and Public Relations
- Postcolonialism Theory and Public Relations
- Postmodern Public Relations
- Power Resource Management Theory
- Power, as Functions and Structures
- Power, as Social Construction
- Power, Discursive
- Power, Symbolic
- Power/Knowledge and Public Relations
- Psychological Processing
- Public Diplomacy
- Public Sphere (Öffentlichkeit)
- Public Sphere Discourse
- Race and Public Relations
- Reflective Management
- Reinforcement Theory
- Relationship Management Theory
- Resource Dependency Theory
- Rhetorical Arena (Crisis Theory)
- Rules Theory
- Situational Theory of Problem Solving
- Situational Theory of Publics
- Social Capital
- Social Construction of Reality Theory
- Social Exchange Theory
- Social Learning Theory
- Socialization Theory
- Socioculture and Public Relations
- Spiral of Silence Theory
- Stakeholder Theory
- Stakes
- Strategic Silence
- Subjective Expected Utilities Theory
- Symbolic Interactionism Theory
- Systems Theory
- The Subaltern and Public Relations
- Theory of Reasoned Action
- Theory-Based Practice
- Third Culture Public Relations Practitioner
- Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change
- Two-Step Flow Theory
- Uncertainty
- Uncertainty Reduction Theory
- Uses and Gratifications Theory
- Appendices
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