URLs in Magazine Ads Dramatically Increase Website Traffic

I would have thought by now that every company puts their URL in their magazine ads. Apparently not. A study sponsored by the Magazine Publishers of America demonstrates that including a URL in ads can boost traffic to a company’s website by up to 186% over ads that don’t feature the company’s web address.

Including a URL just seems like a no-brainer. I picked up a number of magazines around the house and started checking for URLs in the ads. Whoa...I was surprised to find many ads that didn’t have a URL displayed. And most of the companies that were advertising in these publications (without the URLs) would have definitely benefited by building more brand engagement through additional website traffic.

In an era when management is seriously questioning every marketing expenditure for return on investment, it seems imprudent to hamstring your results — and measurable results at that — by excluding your company’s website address in magazine ads.