LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Due to continuing marketing efforts, the 1st Fighter Wing Public Affairs office nearly doubled its Web site readership overnight.
Page views on
www.langley.af.mil rose from 41.39 percent June 14 and 79.80 percent June 15 from the previous week, respectively. The jump made Langley the fourth most-visited site among Air Combat Command's 33 Web sites.
"The advantage of the Web site is timeliness," said Master Sgt. Mark Haviland,
Air Combat Command Public Affairs manager of operations. "Rather than wait until Friday to receive news, Airman and families can access timely news worldwide."
Airmen can view up-to-the-minute news concerning the
1st FW,
480th Intelligence Wing as well as the Virginia Air National Guard 192nd Fighter Wing. Mission news, gate closures and community information can be viewed as the information is released.
"The Web site is accessible to anyone with Internet access," said Sergeant Haviland. "Family members, parents as well as other news outlets can be up-to-date with what the Air Force is doing. More support from them means the mission is easier to execute."
One of the marketing tools the 1st FW Public Affairs office implemented to increase Web readership was a weekly news service e-mail. The first Langley News Service e-mail was sent to all of Langley -- Airmen and civilians -- June 14 and featured Langley-specific news articles, photos, community information and commentaries.
"The percentage of page views crossed into the 'statistically significant' realm," said Sergeant Haviland.
Of the more than 11,000 Airmen and Department of Defense contractors who received the news service e-mail, www.langley.af.mil received close to 37,000 page views, compared to the 32,000 views the previous week. The daily average increased by 700 views, jumping from 4,500 to 5,200.
"Of the 100 percent of Airmen and families who view the news, 70 percent comes from the Web and 30 percent of viewers read the hard copy newspaper," the manager of operations said. "Luckily, Military Newspapers of Virginia has stepped up to the plate and continues to publish a newspaper for the Airmen who would rather read print news."
Although the number of viewers is increasing, the public affairs office still seeks feedback as to what works and what doesn't work on the Web.
"If we know what our audience wants, we can tailor the Web site to their needs," said Amy Robinson, 1st FW Public Affairs editor. "We've changed our method of delivery, our goal is still to equip Airmen with the information they need to accomplish the mission -- whether it's the latest information on the Operational Readiness Exercise or the opening of the new enlisted club."
In addition to feedback, public affairs also seeks information from the Langley community in order to keep its audience informed.
"We receive the majority of our information from base agencies," said Ms. Robinson. "But we can't cover it if we don't know about it, and the more lead time we have, the better we can plan for the event."
People are encouraged to submit news, commentaries, sports, photos and announcements to
1fw.paedit@langley.af.mil. The 1 FW Public Affairs staff will edit submissions to Air Force standards, approve them for public release and upload the information to
www.langley.af.mil, where it will be available to privately owned, civilian-managed newspapers, such as "The Langley Fighter."