"How to Measure Your Communication Programs" by Angela D. Sinickas
copyright 2005 Angela D. Sinickas. All rights reserved. ISBN 0-9661757-1-9.6
Measuring Intranets and Web Sites
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employees through intranets and with potential customers through
the World Wide Web, part of the Internet. While these electronic
tools serve many other purposes beyond communication, as
communication channels they have several advantages over more
traditional communication methods: • They can provide access to volumes of information without
having to print and distribute it. • They are fast. • They can be easily updated. • They facilitate two-way communication, both vertically and horizontally through an organization. • They can improve the bottom line, through increased sales when
part of an integrated marketing strategy and reduced internal
expenses over the long term as people begin to work together in
new ways. • They can improve productivity through the ability of employees
to work together in virtual workplaces. These "communities" of
employees can share documents and maintain ongoing discussion
groups even when they aren't in the same places at the same times. Many of the measurement tools that apply to print, audiovisual and interpersonal communication methods can be applied to measuring
the effectiveness of electronic communications as well. In addition
to evaluating the electronic information sites themselves, you can
measure the messages promoted within these media, as well as the
desired actions you'd like these media to encourage (see the chapter
on "Measuring Behaviors and Outcomes"). Some of the techniques described elsewhere in this manual that are
highly adaptable to measuring intranet and Internet web site
effectiveness include: • Content analysis (see the chapter on "Measuring Messages"). • Including the site as one of the media being evaluated in a media
analysis (see the chapter on "Measuring Publications and
Audiovisuals"). • Listing your intranet as a communication source when you ask
your audience their current and preferred sources of information
on various topics (as part of the pattern analysis described in the
chapter on "Measuring Messages"). • Distribution assessment for how many employees have access to an intranet site (see the chapter on "Measuring Publications and
Audiovisuals"). • Grade level testing of the writing (see the chapter on "Measuring Publications and Audiovisuals").
• Knowledge testing of sample content included on-line (see the
chapter on "Measuring Messages"). • Readership survey (see the chapter on "Measuring Publications and Audiovisuals"). • Study groups in which an intranet is demonstrated to employees
before they are asked their opinions of how they might use it if
their own organization developed one (see the chapter on
"Preparing to Conduct Focus Groups"). In this chapter, you will learn how to conduct several types of measurements to determine the effectiveness of employee intranets and World Wide Web sites, as well as explore ways of using the Inter/intranet as a measurement tool itself: • Measuring outcomes against your objectives for the site (for example, reducing printing and distribution costs, increasing timeliness and improving productivity). • Measuring visits, domains, hits and bytes. • Tracking the pathways users follow on your site. • Using your site as a method of conducting measurements.(End of Excerpt)
