Information Facilities Management nets almost 300,000 hits in May

Citation

(2000), "Information Facilities Management nets almost 300,000 hits in May", Facilities, Vol. 18 No. 13/14. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2000.06918mab.019

Information Facilities Management nets almost 300,000 hits in May

Keywords Facilities management, Information management, Internet

After first year, leading Web resource for FMs growing at 35 per cent month on month

A year after its launch, i-FM.net, the daily news and information resource for facilities management professionals, is a resounding hit. In fact, 288,794 hits were recorded to the site in May – an increase of 35 per cent over April 2000.

The site (www.i-fm.net), edited by ex-Premises & Facilities Management editor, Richard Byatt, was launched in June 1999. It provides the only source of daily news and information to all stakeholders in the European facilities management communities – clients, providers and consultants.

Both a daily newswire and a gateway to the host of crucial information relevant to the work of facilities professionals, i-FM means they are always just a few clicks away from the ability to discover, investigate, network and discuss.

The figures compare favourably with most industry-specific sites which attract in the region of 100,000 hits a month. i-FM is also the leading industry site on other key performance measures. Repeat visitor numbers increased by 20 per cent in May and the number of registrants was up 12 per cent. Meanwhile, visitors spend on average ten minutes at the site on every visit.

i-FM has formed alliances with many leading industry figures and publications and established early competitive advantage to become the definitive business-to-business (B2B) Web portal for this vertical sector.

As electronic media partners for June's World Workplace conference (Glasgow, 12-15 June) and FM Expo (London, 19-21 September), i-FM will receive further significant exposure through 2000 and predicts a growth rate of 400 per cent over the coming year.

"When I moved from print publishing to edit i-FM towards the end of last year, it was because I felt that the Internet had enormous potential for information and communication in facilities management. Six months later and with i-FM not yet a year old, our traffic figures support my view that we are well on the way to creating an online FM community", said editor, Richard Byatt.

"We have invested heavily in establishing a solid editorial, technical and management team, together with the right processes, to ensure that our content is not only timely, but highly relevant to the needs of this growing industry. We are adding new features and functionality to the portal all the time and we are now set for major expansion. All we can say is, watch this virtual space!"

i-FM was created by Enigma, the B2B communications company, which specialises in new media and has extensive experience in the FM sector.

The Web site was launched and developed with support from major partners, sponsors and advertisers: BIFM, IFMA, PFM and Workplace magazines, Sulzer Infra CBX, Citex and Europa.

For further information contact Fiona Perrin, at Enigma. Tel: +44 (0)20 7553 3250; E-mail fiona@the-enigma.co.uk. Or Richard Bryatt, at i-FM. Tel: +44 (0)1732 522 948; E-mail: richard@i-fm.net