Online and On Target

June 1, 2004
We listened to you as we designed our new Web site!

Material Handling Management just launched a new Web site, www.MHMonline.com!

Why should you care?

Because you told us how to do it. We took the time to study research about your interests, how you get information, and to check out the most popular existing Web sites in material handling and related fields. Our site was rebuilt to more closely match your interests and preferences, so it should be more valuable to you.

Through Material Handling Management magazine's reader profile and readership studies, you told us that product/service news and information is of most interest. You'll find it on MHMonline.com. Our research also shows a fairly high pass-along rate for the magazine, with an average over the past year of 3-1/3 people reading an issue. That means when some readers want to go back to an issue and look up something they saw before, the magazine could be in somebody else's hands.

That's why we made it easier for you to read not only the current issue, but also to choose from more than 1,000 well-organized articles from past issues. If you are one of the many long-time MHM subscribers (the average length of time subscribers have been receiving MHM is six years), you can appreciate the value of these past articles.

We spent a lot of time finding and exploring Web sites from around the world that serve the manufacturing, material handling, distribution and logistics markets. Some of these were really nice; others were confusing and hard to navigate. The sites with the highest traffic — the ones you use the most — were fast, simple and provided useful information (the whole point of the Internet). Of course, we adapted the fast, simple and useful elements of the good sites to design MHMonline.com.

The site construction was a group effort involving people with different functions on the staff. Most of them have more than 15 years of experience with Material Handling Management and related magazines. We on the online side also leveraged the experience of building MHM's sister publication's new Web site, www.LogisticsTODAY.com, which was recently launched.

One thing I brought from my previous job in the recruiting industry was knowing how important it is to make access to information on a Web site fast and easy, respecting your privacy. Nearly everything on MHMonline.com's home page fits on one screen and gets you where you want to go without delays for registration or going through long and complicated searches. And, yes, we have a much-improved Career Center for those of you who want to check out the job market.

We have several other enhancements that are under way, and will be introduced shortly after the June 1 launch of the Web site. The new MHM Online Directory is an interactive, searchable extension of the print directory. You will also be able to view streaming video product demonstrations through our unique Demo on Demand tool.

One of the best features of the new MHM Web site that you can try right now is our e-mail newsletters, now offered in two versions -- Newsmakers and Products of the Week. You can keep up with industry news and new product/services between monthly issues of the magazine without even having to type a URL. To encourage you to sign up, we're kicking off the launch of the Web site with a prize drawing. Get the contest information at http://www.mhmonline/newsletters.

Well, what are you waiting for? Start clicking!

Carrie Drozdz, online product coordinator

[email protected]