WebTrends Announces Technology and Marketing Partnership with Wordtracker

Business Wire, August 2, 2004

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Integration of Wordtracker within WebPosition Gold 3 Identifies Most Popular and Least Competitive Keywords for Online Marketers to Use in Search Engine Optimization

WebTrends, the web analytics market leader and a business unit of NetIQ Corporation (Nasdaq:NTIQ), today at the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo announced a technology and marketing partnership with Wordtracker, the industry-leading keyword research and management solution. The terms of the agreement include co-branded integration of the Wordtracker service within WebPosition Gold 3, as well as joint promotional activities for WebTrends web analytics and Wordtracker's keyword research service. With the integration, WebPosition Gold 3 customers can research keywords related to their business and quickly determine which are the most popular and least competitive in order to focus Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts on the keyword phrases proven to drive the greatest and most immediate results from search engines.

Wordtracker is the leading solution for keyword research with a continuously updated database of over 300 million queries from which lists of keywords and keyword combinations can be built for use in SEO efforts. WebPosition Gold 3 users can now import keywords directly from the Wordtracker service, enabling them to save time by starting the SEO process with the optimal keywords. Additionally, in an exclusive offer to WebPosition Gold customers, the integrated Wordtracker service allows users to perform queries using 50% more keywords than the version of the service available to the general public. Other details of the relationship were not disclosed.

"This technology and marketing partnership is exciting because it brings together the pioneers and current market leaders in search engine optimization, web analytics and keyword research," said Mike Mindel, president of Wordtracker. "We already have many common customers and this integration is just the beginning in making it easier for organizations to achieve better ROI from search engine marketing and optimization efforts.

With WebPosition Gold 3, announced today, WebTrends now offers solutions for managing the entire SEO process: organizations can conduct keyword research through the integrated Wordtracker service, increase visibility and improve search engine positions with WebPosition Gold, and understand conversions and revenue from search engines with WebTrends(R).

"SEO has grown from a small business strategy years ago to one of the most critical and fastest-growing marketing activities within enterprise-level organizations today," said Greg Drew, senior vice president and general manager of the WebTrends business unit of NetIQ. "To gain and maintain a competitive edge, organizations must continuously research, analyze and optimize search engine marketing results. Our goal is to provide marketers with simple, end-to-end search engine optimization solutions to make the process easier, smarter and faster."

About Wordtracker

Wordtracker is the industry's leading keyword research service, helping customers identify keywords and phrases that are relevant to their business and most likely to be used as queries by search engine visitors. Marketers can also determine how many competing sites are using those keywords and by combining popularity and competitiveness scores, identify the phrases that present the greatest potential opportunity. Wordtracker's database of more than 400 million terms is constantly updated using queries from metasearch engines. Wordtracker is developed and marketed by Rivergold Associates Ltd, London, UK. For more information, visit www.wordtracker.com.

About WebTrends

As the worldwide leader and trusted standard for web analytics, WebTrends delivers award-winning solutions that help marketing executives improve their return on investment. From campaign performance and search engine marketing to web site conversion and customer retention, WebTrends provides marketers a complete solution to accelerate their web results. Thousands of organizations worldwide, including more than half of the Fortune and Global 500 companies, rely on WebTrends every day to measure and optimize their results. Offering both an On Demand service and software solutions, WebTrends uniquely provides customers with complete choice and control to ensure the solution can adapt with their dynamic business needs. WebTrends is a business unit of NetIQ Corporation. For more information, visit www.webtrends.com.

About NetIQ

NetIQ Corp. (Nasdaq:NTIQ) is a leading provider of Systems & Security Management and Web Analytics solutions. Historically focused on managing Windows-based applications, NetIQ now delivers cross-platform solutions that enhance business performance resulting in higher returns on infrastructure and web investments. NetIQ products are sold across all continents directly and through a network of authorized NetIQ partners and resellers. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with development and operational personnel in Houston, Texas; Portland, Ore; Raleigh, N.C.; Bellevue, Wash. and Galway, Ireland. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.netiq.com or call 888-323-6768.