|
|
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — TermiteInstitute.com, a new Web site developed earlier this year by BASF, educates consumers about termites and the $5 billion worth of structural damage they cause annually. The site has logged more than 40,000 visits from viewers seeking educational information about termites and the best ways to combat and prevent them.
TermiteInstitute.com was conceived to provide consumers with straightforward educational information about termites. It serves as a “one-stop-shop” for termite facts where viewers can experience a breadth and depth of termite essentials — from termite prevalence by region, to how to spot termite problems, to how to make a home termite-free. The site also offers recommendations for termite control when buying, selling, or building a home, and important information for homeowners moving into areas with high termite activity. A direct link to BASF’s TermidorHome.com allows visitors to find a pest professional in their area.
BASF collaborated with a variety of experts including entomologist Dr. Harold J. Harlan, veteran realtor and Senior Instructor for the Graduate REALTOR Institute Steven David, and the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). “TermiteInstitute.com is a very valuable and incredibly informative resource for anyone seeking facts about termites,” said Dr. Harlan. “The site is unlike anything currently available in terms of its unbiased presentation and depth of information.”
Strategically launched to coincide with the start of the 2006 termite swarming season, TermiteInstitute.com has since received an average of over 350 visits per day from consumers who spend a solid four minutes on the site once they get there. Thirty-five percent of visitors are referred from major search engines Google and Yahoo!, while more than one-third reach the site by directly entering the URL into their Web browsers, an indication that homeowners are hearing or reading about the site in the general media, then going online to see it for themselves.
Site traffic hit an all-time high in late March through early April. The peak coincided with a radio news release that aired 513 times in major U.S. media markets featuring BASF’s Dr. Bob Davis addressing the since-debunked internet rumors that termite-infested mulch from hurricane ravaged southern states was being distributed to home centers nationwide. The site set its one-day visitor record on April 3 when more than 1,100 viewers logged on. Subsequent media coverage, including feature stories in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Scripps Howard News Service, have continued to drive proactive homeowners to the website.
“Clearly, there was a need for a streamlined and concise source for people to get accurate and reliable information on termite treatments and prevention,” said Karl J. Kisner, senior marketing manager for BASF. “An online search for termites can produce as many as 3 million results, and within those results a lot of the information is confusing and misleading. We think the web traffic we’ve seen so far substantiates the importance of TermiteInstitute.com and the need to have all the facts in one, very accessible place.”