Posted in Online Publishing Strategy	March 22, 2007

The Mequoda Online Media Index (OMI) is a Simple Calculation that Measures a Publication’s Transition from Print to Online

Online advertising is in an explosive trend. Internet advertising revenues for 2006 are estimated at a record setting $16.8 billion—a 34 percent increase from 2005’s record setting $12.5 billion, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau. Fourth-quarter 2006 revenues were just under $4.8 billion, making it the highest quarter ever reported, according to the IAB.

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If publishers want to capture some of that money hemorrhaging into the Internet, they have to develop an effective online marketing strategy. They have to devote the same level of time and effort into their websites today as they did when building their print circulation.

Unfortunately, there is no “how to” book for making the print-to-online transition, and companies are scrambling to find the best strategy. We at the Mequoda Group, though, have researched thousands of websites and developed an easy way to measure the success of a publication’s transition: the Mequoda Online Media Index.

The Mequoda OMI a mathematical equation that can immediately tell the effectiveness of any publisher’s strategy to develop an online audience. It breaks down as follows:

Finding these numbers is simple and free. Compete's free SnapShot tool provides websites’ unique visitor counts, and the Audit Bureau of Circulation’s Free Reports will provide a publication’s verified circulation numbers. Simply take those numbers, divide and compare them to our grading graph below.

OMI’s vary wildly from one publisher to another. Forbes, for example, has an excellent OMI of about 7.45. Forbes’ unique online content and breaking news are enough to draw over seven times as many unique users to its website a month as to its print publication. TV Guide has started to make the transition online, but as its .88 OMI indicates, its print circulation is still greater than it’s website’s draw, restricting TV Guide’s online advertising revenue potential.

How did your publication do? If you are in the A to B range, congratulations, you are doing an excellent job driving your audience to your website. If your score is any lower than a 1.0, then you should consider the record setting quarter that the online advertising industry just finished and how you are going to capture that growth.

Mequoda’s Generating Website Revenue Special Report is an excellent way for publishers to learn how to harness the Internet’s colossal revenue potential. In this report, we detail the types of websites that best encourage users to interact with your media brand, develop a trusted relationship and generate website revenue for your organization.