CWV Research Project

The Community Web Visibility Research Project

The Community Web Visibility Research Project

The Ever Smaller World and the Ever Larger Web
Since the World Wide Web erupted onto the media landscape over ten years ago, the Internet has created unprecedented opportunities for communication by anyone, anywhere, at any time. The growth in the number of people, organizations, and other institutions publishing within this new medium is dwarfed only by those interested in accessing it. Estimates placing the number of people online in the U.S. at over 160 million, and 1 billion people worldwide by the end of this year, reveal the true demand for and potential of this personalized, digital medium.

The Power of Cyberspace for Travel and Tourism
Among the many industries reporting significant benefits from this increasing growth is the travel and tourism sector. According to the Travel Industry Association of America, in 2001, over 60 million U.S. adults used the Internet to make travel arrangements and research destinations, 75% of which use search engines to get the job done. Studies like this underscore the growing power of the Internet and its potential for increasing the distribution of travel and tourism dollars in the U.S.

Welcome to the 21st Century
Community leaders clearly understand the need for community self-promotion and consider it essential to their communities’ economic development. However, Web promotion operates in a way that is distinctly different from traditional marketing approaches used in other media. Print, radio, television, and direct mail compete against each other for audience attention. In today's online world, it is crucial that businesses, organizations, and institutions in your community work together to define your virtual, hometown identity. These collective efforts to enhance your Community Web Visibility are necessary to meet your community's strategic economic development objectives for this century.

Delivering Know-how to Your Community
Since the inception of the Community Web Visibility project in 2000, our team of communication researchers has been studying community-level communication media and their role in economic development. Working collaboratively at Plattsburgh State University of New York, our efforts are at the vanguard for all future Community Web Visibility research. No other known university-based research project is currently investigating the phenomena of community Web visibility and identity from both scientific and applied standpoints. We don't just report our research—our team is prepared to furnish technical assistance designed to assess and optimize your community's Web Visibility and identity.

Asking the Right Questions, Finding the Right Answers
The World Wide Web is a rapidly changing medium. Using it as a part of your community's total promotional mix takes careful and complete awareness of emerging Web dynamics. The traffic drawn to individual Web sites in your community does not represent or guarantee the overall online health of your community—it is only one part. To more fully incorporate the Web into your community's promotional planning, we can help you answer three important questions:

1) Is your community keeping pace with the growth and usage of the World Wide Web?

2) What do people perceive about your community when they see your hometown online?

3) What are some specific ways you can effectively put 21st century media to work for your community's economy?

"A community's communication and economic landscapes are inseparable."

More Value from Cyber-Resources
We are examining issues of Community Web Visibility and online identity from the Web navigator's perspective. Why is this important? Because what online visitors see during virtual contact with your community can significantly influence the consumer decision-making process. Active Web searchers from anywhere on the planet rely heavily on the online profile of your community. They forge impressions about what your community has to offer and make up their minds as to whether or not your community is worth visiting. It is critically important then that your community make the most of its cyber-resources. And this effort can make a world of difference for those businesses and industries in your community that consistently count on capital generation from travel and tourism.

A Walk in the Park
The Community Web Visibility research project was created to interpret the phenomena of community online presence and visibility in the computer-mediated environment of the World Wide Web. We have focused specifically on 10 counties and 48 communities in upstate New York. This area encompasses much of the Adirondack Park and what is known as the North Country. We study the visibility and identity of communities overall, and of industry categories reflecting major economic variables affecting travel and tourism. Appropriately, our project combines the talents of faculty researchers in the areas of digital technology, public relations and advertising, organizational theory, and communication research methodology.

“The web is your opportunity to make your community’s vision a reality.”

Tools for Your Community
Communities—especially those that are tourist destinations—cannot afford to be parked cars on the information superhighway. Our Community Web Visibility research project continues to explore the presence, visibility, and identity of geographic communities on the Internet. We look forward to serving as an accessible, community-level, communication resource. We retrieve and analyze community visibility and identity data from the Web and assess the effects Web dynamics have on community self-promotion and development. And although our focus is research, we are committed to the application of our findings in an effort to help communities to make connections between their communication and economic landscapes in the 21st century.

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Our Research is made possible through the continuing support of
Plattsburgh State University of New York and its Office of Sponsored Research.