The continued resilience of the contracting sector in the face of deepening economic gloom and the increasing popularity of ContractorCalculator has been confirmed by the site’s third independent audit by the industry body ABCe for March 2009, which shows an 8% increase in visitor numbers in a year.
ContractorCalculator’s increased investment in the website has been rewarded with much higher visitor numbers. These have been independently recorded and verified by ABCe, which has certified that there were 113,827 unique user/browsers in March 2009.
“We have now received three certificates from ABCe clearly demonstrating that ContractorCalculator has a significant and growing readership,” says ContractorCalculator CEO Dave Chaplin. “This in turn confirms that our ongoing investment into high quality content is justified and appreciated by the contracting community, especially in the current challenging conditions.”
ABCe = independent, trustworthy verification
Websites that have their traffic figures audited by the industry body ABCe make our buying decisions much easier. We know we can invest in them with confidence and trust.
James Coyle - WhichMedia
According to Chaplin, independent verification of site visitors is hugely important: “ABCe is independent, uses industry standards for measuring website metrics, and is considered the ‘gold standard’ by media buyers. We would urge the whole contractor sector to use these open and transparent techniques for verifying their website traffic claims. But so far,” he confirms, “we are the only contracting site that has been prepared to open our books and be totally transparent.”
Without an ABCe certificate, internet users and advertisers cannot be sure that the traffic and visitor numbers claimed by websites are accurate and recorded correctly using standards developed by the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS).
James Coyle, media executive for agency WHICHMEDIA, and media buyer for ContractorCalculator client Parasol Group, explains: "Websites that have their traffic figures audited by the industry body ABCe make our buying decisions much easier. We know we can invest in them with confidence and trust."
Client confidence
We've developed considerable trust in the ContractorCalculator advertising property.
Rob Crossland - MD, Parasol Group
Coyle’s views are echoed by Rob Crossland, managing director of professional business services provider Parasol Group, which has one of the largest UK umbrella companies as part of its portfolio.
“We’ve developed considerable trust in the ContractorCalculator advertising property,” says Crossland, “to the extent that Quay Accounting, recently acquired by the Parasol Group, is now an advertiser with the website, too.”
Contractors rely on advertisers making effective media buying decisions to ensure that they are fully aware of the latest products and services available, ensuring their contracting careers and lifestyles run as smoothly as possible.
If advertisers are not provided with accurate information about where they advertise, marketing messages are misdirected at the wrong audiences, resulting in advertising ‘white noise’ that turns potential customers off.
High quality contractor content
“Contractors are a highly discerning and demanding market,” explains Chaplin, “and we have rigorous editorial policies and ongoing market research that results in us publishing what contractors want to read and that can make a difference to their lives.”
It was almost ten years ago, in September 1999, when Chaplin launched the industry’s first online calculator website for contractors, since when it has developed into the trusted ContractorCalculator website. But although he can be rightly pleased with the website’s achievements, Chaplin says that there is no room for complacency.
“The economic downturn and meltdown of the financial sector leaves UK contractors facing the toughest challenges since the millennium began, but also with a great many opportunities,” says Chaplin. “So we will continue to provide the latest news, calculators and high quality guides to ensure every contractor maximises the success of their contracting career.”