That's where site-centric research comes in. Using free survey tools like PollDaddy and SurveyMonkey, or research vendors like InsightExpress and iPerceptions, or, fingers crossed, our own Crowd Science Demographics, you can answer that fundamental question, "Who is my audience?"

We're often asked why site-centric demographic data is better than direct-traffic measurement (like Omniture, WebTrends, and Google's) or syndicated panel measurement (like comScore and Nielsen's). The truth is that all three have a place in the audience-measurement landscape. But the site-centric approach has some advantages that deserve special attention.

Site-centric research has two major advantages:

1. Access to the entire site audience,
2. Customized measurement of audience attributes.

Site-centric research is the demographic equivalent of direct-traffic measurement. Publishers simply tag each page of their site with the survey instrument. This means that the sample is selected based on the entire audience, from which a small percentage is invited to participate. This is unlike a panel survey, which does not have access to the entire audience and which can sample among only the small subset of the audience that happens to belong to the panel. With site-centric research, you get a more representative sample of your audience, the ability to conduct research on very small, targeted audiences, and, because of the potential for a greater volume of collected data, the ability to dive deep into particular parts of your site and audience segments.

Complementing greater access to audiences across different websites is site-centric research that executes customized questionnaires. Instead of a "one survey fits all" approach, each survey can be driven based on the category of the site and the context of particular visitors. So, your audience is asked relevant questions, and the data collected is far more valuable to publishers and advertisers alike. Compared with the sophisticated mathematical models that behavioral tracking companies use to infer the demographics and psychographics of Internet users, site-centric research can seem very simplistic. And in some sense, it is, though there is a tremendous amount of value in "just asking," and a lot of theory behind why it works.

Based on this, there are seven reasons why everyone should be thinking about site-centric demographics.

1. Know your audience. These are the folks actually on your site: you need to know them inside and out. Beyond basic demographics are visitor psychographics.
2. Profile who is visiting your site. Traffic stats are only part of the picture. Detailed and accurate portraits of online visitors are worth their weight in gold.
3. Tailor your content and offers. Detailed profiles allow you to customize offers based on who is visiting your site at any given time. Or, you could allocate ad space based on categories, interests, and behaviors.
4. React faster to emerging trends. Because you're getting real-time info, you can spot key indicators early and adjust your messaging and offers accordingly.
5. Ensure your advertising spend is hitting the right target. Whether you're a publisher or advertiser, profiles ensure that you are delivering the right message to the right audience.
6. Increase the impact of your research dollars. Site-centric research is very cost-effective. More importantly, the data is richer and allows you to do more.
7. Develop relevant partnerships. Partners are a great way to broaden your reach, as long as you can show them what you've got.

If any of these reasons strike a chord, maybe it's time to consider what site-centric demographics can do for you: all you need to do is ask.