Building traffic: taking your Web site to the next level--from blogs to "video magazines.".

IT'S BEEN MORE THAN 10 years since Indiana's Internet pioneers used little more than text, a few links and the occasional photo to stake out the first wave of Web sites. Today the rush to develop cyberspace is still going in full force, but the tools include a variety of rich media and Web 2.0 services that deliver new features and increasingly use video as the preferred way to communicate.

Driving the latest round of innovation is a growing audience with high-speed Internet connections and new technology that allows audio and video files to be compressed so they are easy to download, view and send to others. The success of sites like YouTube that post user videos and encourage networking has also encouraged similar tools for business use.

Cantaloupe TV, a new venture in Fishers, is working to take advantage of those factors by encouraging companies to supplement their Web sites with "video magazines," a series of short video segments that tell stories about the people providing products and services.

Founder Jon DiGregory started the company after having worked to create expensive high-end video productions with animations and carefully scripted messages that were designed to make a big impression. Although such projects generated attention, he found they did little to assist companies in generating sales.

"Most businesses don't have the luxury of people seeing a video and rushing out to buy their product," he explains. So DiGregory decided to spread out the production costs and create a series of low-budget videos that are unscripted and just feature real people talking about their businesses. Those videos are posted to Web sites and sent to people who subscribe to the video magazine, allowing companies to communicate with customers over longer periods of time.

The video stories range from topics made for the format, such as promotion of a singer or sales training, to others that are less obvious, such as videos discussing finance, corporate recruiting and even issues like public policy. While some video magazines include only a single episode, others feature a series of videos released over six months to a year.

DiGregory says the simple approach of just having a person talking candidly on camera has generated a positive response from viewers who have grown tired of flashy commercials. "There's a big difference between commercials and what we are doing," he says. "This is not staged, with pretty actors saying scripted things. People don't care about the logo spinning around, they just want the story."

Although the company has only been in business for 18 months, DiGregory has hired 21 employees and already topped $1 million in revenue. Eyeing rapid growth, the company has expanded to Fort Wayne, Ohio and Pennsylvania and is planning to add new markets.

Return on investment. Tom Hirons, president and CEO of Hirons & Co., says the growing emphasis on adding video to Web sites is no surprise because the medium is a great way to capture interest.

"New media has emerged as the most cost-effective and highest return on investment activity available to our clients," he says, considering his company's operations in Bloomington and Indianapolis.

And Hirons is taking his own advice to heart. The company is launching a new Web site this month that features some 30 video introductions from staff members and clients. Hirons will also use geo-targeting on the Web site to recognize where users are accessing the site and then deliver corresponding videos.

For example, those who visit the Hirons site from northern Virginia would be welcomed with a video that focuses on the company's growing government services division in Washington, D.C. Those logging on in southern Indiana might be welcomed with information about work the company has done in that area.

Hirons says such customization of rich media content is key to building the relationships that are critical to business success. "Technology is really about bringing us closer and establishing one-on-one contact and interactivity," he explains.

Hirons also encourages business owners to explore new ways to leverage the content they create. Another marketing tool Hirons uses is an electronic company brochure that is distributed on a USB keychain drive and demonstrates high-end video and Flash animations that require larger file sizes.

"It walks clients through a broad selection of new media," he says, explaining the presentation is a good training tool on how different technologies can be used.

At the other end of the spectrum, a northwest Indiana company is working to use video in the smallest of file sizes, streaming video through a tiny media player onto Web sites, banner and pop-up ads and e-mail. Valparaiso-based Livemercial uses streaming video technology to deliver such content quickly, even if users have slower dial-up connections or older computers.

The company says its Liveplayer is the smallest media player available with a file size of just 5 kb and is viewable by more Internet users than any other streaming technology as it sends video to online ads millions of times per day.

The power of blogs.

While pushing video to Internet users is helpful, Peter McCormick, co-founder and vice president of partnerships for ExactTarget, says the Indianapolis-based e-mail marketing company looks for ways to leverage video with other new Web tools like blogs. Blogging, the process of regularly posting news and opinions on a Web page and allowing others to comment, can benefit from including video posts, he says.

For example, McCormick's blog called "Closing the Loop" recently included a video case study that Microsoft produced about ExactTarget. McCormick took the video that was presented at a conference in Denver and posted it on his blog, allowing others to see the presentation and participate in a discussion about it.

"Blogs are an efficient way to build a dialogue," he says, noting the process builds a community of customers who remain engaged with the company. "Blogging is a great way to get people coming back to the site."

With the constant changes in technology and new Internet services, it's not easy for business leaders to decide what tools are best for their Web sites. Few people understand that as well as Ron Brumbarger, president and CEO of Bitwise Solutions in Carmel, who has been helping companies learn about the Internet since early 1994. To help sort through the many options, Brumbarger launched a new series of Web camps for businesses this year and provides training sessions on the best Web practices.

A basic lesson is the continued importance of providing quality content that is both timely and engaging. Brumbarger says successful companies have followed that approach, from the earliest Web sites to the latest Web 2.0 applications, such as blogging, video and providing software as a service.

"It's all about how you can keep it fresh so you remain relevant and current," Brumbarger explains.

Leveraging the Web.

"We're starting to really leverage the Web for the publishing tool that it is," Brumbarger says, citing banks as a good example of including many features across different departments. Rather than just have paragraphs describing checking accounts and loan products, most bank Web site now have extensive information that allows users to access current account information, conduct transactions, view historical data and sign up for new products and services in real time.

To evaluate the success of such interactive sites, Brumbarger suggests taking advantage of Web analytics, the process of tracking how users access and navigate Web sites. By studying such behavior, companies can understand how people use their sites and correct problems in design and function.

For example, if a bank finds that its five-step process for opening a new checking account online loses most people at step three, then it improve the process to correct the problems at that step.

Although there have been great advances in how Web sites are used, Brumbarger says one of the most surprising things for him is how often business executives fail to take responsibility for their company's Internet business as they would while building physical headquarters, offices and manufacturing space.