Wednesday, August 5, 2009

A small follow up to my previous post about the US Mint's new site located at UHRGoldCoin.gov from Friday.

The US Mint seems to be using the new site primarily as a landing page used in coordination with a pay per click advertising campaign. I spotted some ads listed in Google's sponsored links section with the URL of the Mint's new site and also noticed a new option in the US Mint's check out process.


Through it's Adwords program, Google allows advertisers to bid on ad placements within the "sponsored links" section of its search engine results or across its content network. Advertisers only pay if someone clicks on the ads. This has been established as a very effective form of advertising for many businesses.

In this situation, when someone clicks on the US Mint's ad, they are sent to the UHRGoldCoin.Gov site which is filled within information, images, and videos of the coin. If they like what they see, the visitor can click through to the US Mint's online catalog to purchase the coin.

This is the first time I have seen the US Mint implement a coordinated internet advertising campaign, but it does seem very well put together. There was one comment on my previous post which stated: "makes me want to buy one this minute." I have to admit that the first time I saw the site, I also felt a compulsion to buy a second example of the coin.

If this type of advertising ends up providing a positive return on the Mint's investment, hopefully they will repeat the process for future products. Even if the primary purpose is advertising, collectors get a professionally designed, informative, content rich site for their enjoyment.

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