Media Awareness Network Celebrates 1st Anniversary of New Site with International Awards, Record Number of Visitors
www.media-awareness.ca site traffic up by almost 2 million unique visits a year
Site traffic jumps 139%. Now attracts more than 3.2 million visitors a year.
OTTAWA, March 31, 2004 — Media Awareness Network (MNet), Canada’s leading Internet education organization, is celebrating new levels of success for its bilingual media education Web site, which has attracted more than 3.2 million unique visits since its re-launch in March 2003. This represents a dramatic 139% increase in unique visits in one year.
MNet’s original site, launched in 1996, was already a world-leader in its field, earning domestic and international awards and quickly becoming one of the largest education sites in Canada. By 2002, the MNet site required substantial upgrading after six years of operation in order to maintain its leadership position.
“Our objective for building the new site was to bring it to a completely new level in terms of service to its users,” says Jan D’Arcy, MNet’s Executive Director. “The results far exceed our projections.”
Some Key Facts:
- Dramatic growth in unique visits: 3,332,650, up by 1.9 million visits in its first year
- Average monthly traffic of 277,720 visits
- A weekly unique visits record of 100,827 (week of February 22, 2004)
- High ‘repeat visits’ factor, with 75% - 95% visitors making repeat visits in a given week
- 4,300+ resource documents within 877 sub-sites
- More than 340 rich media documents (pdfs, flash, video)
- Major international awards. NAWeb ‘Best of the Web’ award from the Conference of North American Course Ware Developers (2003), and the new international WiredKids Excellence in Internet Awareness and Education Award from WiredSafety.org (2004)
MNet site attracts international audience.
Traffic Origins:
Canada 21%
United States 49%
Europe 17%
Asia 6%
Oceania 4.5 %
Other 2.5%
The redesign of Media Awareness Network’s site engaged a multi-disciplinary team of 50+ in Montreal, Ottawa, Boston, Atlanta, and Toronto. An eight-member MNet team was responsible for all content development, while design, programming, production and technical functions were outsourced.
Key elements of the rebuild include a comprehensive update and major expansion of English- and French-language content; a new site structure allowing users to easily navigate and find relevant materials; enhanced search tools; a new online content management system, and new corporate branding to strengthen public awareness and market positioning of the organization.
“Looking back on it, this project would have been beyond our capacity, without the support and innovation of the two companies that worked closely with us — NI Solutions and PaperThin,” Ms. D’Arcy said. “Their willingness to take a creative approach and develop solutions tailored to our needs helped a small Canadian organization reach new levels of accomplishment on the world stage.”
MNet deployed PaperThin, Inc.’s content management solution, CommonSpot Content Server, to enable its staff to update and manage the site content in-house.
“With such high volumes of rapidly-changing content, MNet needed a content management tool that was easy to use. Using CommonSpot, MNet’s non-technical staff are able to keep content on the multilanguage sites fresh and relevant for the millions of visitors worldwide who rely on this valuable resource,” said PaperThin president Todd Peters. “We are committed to the success of our customers’ Web initiatives, and working closely with the team at MNet and NI Solutions, we helped to ensure a smooth and successful site launch.”
NI Solutions, a Canadian company based in Toronto, was also a major contributor to the outstanding year one results for MNet’s new site, and continues to provide first-rate management and technical infrastructure support. The company has also developed custom software tools for MNet’s education and marketing ventures.
“NI Solutions were given the unique opportunity to push the technology envelope with Media Awareness Network’s Web site,” said Shaul Swartz, Vice President, Marketing, NI Solutions Inc. “They have allowed us to be totally innovative with the Web site and add new custom tools that significantly extend the ability for a non-profit organization to communicate with its various audiences and stakeholders. We’re very proud to be part of this award winning and world class program, and we look forward to another year of technical enhancements that will build the awareness of this organization’s message into the home of every child.”
For a 90-second tour of MNet’s award-winning site, visit: www.media-awareness.ca/promo/index.cfm.
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About Media Awareness Network — Media Awareness Network (MNet) is a non-profit Canadian organization whose mission is to support and encourage media and Internet education, and its widest possible integration into Canadian schools, homes and communities. Our aim is to help children and youth to develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of the media, the techniques used in creating media products, and the media’s role and influence within society. MNet’s sponsors and partners include: Bell Canada • Shaw Communications Inc. • Rogers Cable Communications Inc • AOL Canada Inc. • Microsoft Canada • CHUM Television • CTV Inc. • TELUS • Craig Media Inc. • Canadian Recording Industry Association • Alliance Atlantis • National Film Board of Canada • BCE Inc. • CanWest Global Communications • Canadian Heritage • CA*net Institute • Human Resources and Skills Development Canada • Industry Canada • Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.
About NISolutions — NI Solutions, a North American leader in providing managed content delivery, application management and hosting services, is focused on increasing the speed, performance and reliability of content and application delivery using the power of the Internet. With a first-class infrastructure that combines an optimal mix of connectivity, processing power and storage, NI Solutions helps businesses efficiently serve users by utilizing the Internet to increase revenue opportunities and reduce the total cost of IT ownership, with the goal of improving user satisfaction.
With over 10 years' experience, NI Solutions is continually building and expanding its reputation as a quality-driven and customer-focused technology partner for organizations that need the comfort of external IT support. NI Solutions is a Microsoft Certified Partner and Macromedia Alliance Partner. For more information on NI Solutions, visit www.nisolutions.ca.
About PaperThin — PaperThin, Inc. is a privately held Massachusetts-based company. Since 1993, PaperThin has helped organizations of all sizes to significantly reduce the time and expense involved in creating, updating and managing Web content. PaperThin’s flagship product, CommonSpotÔ Content Server, powers Internet, intranet and extranet sites worldwide for organizations of all sizes, including the AFL-CIO, Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority, Bell & Howell, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Gillette, Kent State University, Mayo Clinic and Turner Sports. PaperThin’s select group of partners includes industry leading Web design and development firms, high-tech consultants, software manufacturers, and training firms, worldwide. For more information about PaperThin, Inc., please visit http://www.paperthin.com.