Marble Institute of America: Press Room

New MIA Website is Literally a Hit

Cleveland, OH., November 30, 2005— A record 851,000 hits was recorded on the new Marble Institute of America (MIA) web site in October, according to the fast-growing natural stone industry organization, a more than seven-fold increase over the number of visits during October 2004.

"This tremendous outpouring of interest shows that our recent re-design of the web site is providing the kinds of information that members, others in the stone industry and consumers desire," said Gary Distelhorst, executive vice president of MIA.

"Upgrading will be a continual process, with new features developed as opportunities arise," he said.

The latest MIA hit report shows that successful hits averaged 21,479 a day, with the average visitor session length of 9 minutes, 36 seconds.

The site's "find a member" feature was one of the most popular locations. Others favored include common descriptions used in the industry and care and cleaning instructions.

"It's obvious that the MIA site is rapidly becoming the major domestic source for information on natural stone," Distelhorst said. "We expect within the next several months to top a million hits a month."

About the Marble Institute of America
Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2004, the Marble Institute of America (MIA) is the world's leading information resource and advocate for the natural stone industry. MIA members include marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, and other natural stone producers and quarriers, fabricators, installers, distributors, and contractors around the world.

For more information, contact MIA at (440) 250-9222, e-mail MIAinfo@marble-institute.com, or visit www.marble-institute.com