Monday, May 12, 2008
On April 28, 2008, The Green Sheet Inc.-owned RodsandWheels.com surpassed 1 million hits for a single month, marking a historic achievement for the Rohnert Park, Calif.-based company. Following in the footsteps of GS Online – The Green Sheet's main Web site – RodsandWheels.com is fast becoming the online destination for its target audience: car clubs and car enthusiasts of all stripes worldwide.
Webalizer, a Web server analysis program, tracks activity for the company's Web sites. Latest totals for RodsandWheels.com show 1,095,552 hits in April 2008; on a daily basis, the Web site received 36,518 hits. But even more telling is that it experienced over 3,500 unique visits every day in April. During each of those visits, five Web pages, on average, were viewed.
Although quantifying Web site traffic is not an exact science, unique visits are the best way to calculate how many individual users go to a particular Web site. One unique visit represents a distinct user browsing a site; the term is seen as a more accurate metric of the amount of activity on a site than the number of random hits generated.
The Green Sheet Inc.'s Web presence began in July 1995 with the launch of GS Online. Located at www.greensheet.com, it is an adjunct media outlet to The Green Sheet magazine, providing news and opinion on the payments industry. In 2001, the Web site was updated with revamped user forum capability and a search engine.
In June 2007, www.greensheet.com received a little over 1 million hits. At the end of that month, an entirely new Web site architecture, designed by System Administrator Wolf Stiles, went live. July 2007's total hits jumped to over 4 million. For the rest of 2007, GS Online consistently posted monthly hit totals of at least 3 million.
In January 2008, the number skyrocketed to over 5 million hits per month. The Web site enjoys 5,400 unique visits every day, which breaks down to 200 to 250 unique visits per hour.
Founded by payments industry pioneer Paul H. Green in 1983, The Green Sheet's media ventures consist of The Green Sheet, its sister publication GSQ, GS Online, RodsandWheels.com, greensheet.com, TravelAdvice.com and RetailBusiness.com.
The Green Sheet began as a four-page newsletter printed at a local copy shop, said Kate Gillespie, The Green Sheet's General Manager and Chief Operating Officer.
"We are no longer a company producing just one newsletter, but a multifaceted publisher," Gillespie said. "Our business model makes it possible for us to serve many communities.
"Over the last two years we have expanded from the payments industry into the travel arena and have also developed a community for hot rod enthusiasts. We continue to explore new ideas for future expansion."
A major factor in The Green Sheet's success in both print and on the Web has been how the various enterprises support and complement each other. The award-winning, industry leading magazines drive traffic to the Web sites, and vice versa.
"These are very exciting times for The Green Sheet Inc.," Gillespie said. "But we always remain true to our roots. We have introduced greensheet.com to our core Green Sheet audience because we believe that this nascent industry offers our readers many lucrative selling opportunities for the future."
Going forward, Gillespie expects readership of The Green Sheet's trade publications, e-magazines and other electronic resources to increase. She anticipates the company's influence in the payments industry and beyond to expand as well.
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