• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, February 11, 2009

Sprint Nextel has had its share of woes in the last year, hemorrhaging wireless customers, and more recently, announcing plans to shed 13% of its workforce to save $1.2 billion this year. Analysts expect the embattled carrier to report a loss of 3 cents a share when it reports fourth-quarter earnings Thursday.

But the company's Web site appears to be a rare bright spot for Sprint, boosting traffic from potential customers and conversions in December compared to the year-earlier period, according to Web measurement firm Compete.

Sprint.com attracted nearly 4.5 million prospects, up 46% from a year ago. Compete differentiates prospects from customers. The latter have either logged into the site during the month or taken a "consumer-centric" activity such as reading a FAQ entry on paying a bill.

Overall, comScore estimates that Sprint.com had 11.6 million visitors in December compared to 8 million a year ago.

Prospects on the site are also turning into buyers at a higher rate as Sprint's online conversion rate increased 17% to 1.11%. That puts Sprint somewhere in the middle of the pack among wireless carriers, which had conversion rates of .8% to 2.6%, according to Compete.

The research firm also pointed out that a higher percentage of prospects were coming to the site via Sprint's online ads--62% versus 43% a year ago.

Compete analyst Danielle Nohe credits Sprint's heavy promotion of value-oriented offers such as its all-you-can eat "Simply Everything" plan with helping to improve the site's performance. During the company's third-quarter conference call last November, CEO Dan Hesse noted Sprint was focusing its advertising "around the value of Simply Everything" after initially stressing the $99 plan's simplicity.

During the holiday season, the carrier also ran online promotions offering high-end phones such as the Palm Centro and LG Rumor for free to lure new customers. "The bottom line is Sprint is taking the necessary steps to drive the prospect traffic to Sprint.com," said Nohe.

Sprint last month went a step further in cutting pricing, offering a $50-a-month calling plan through its Boost Mobile brand. Previously geared toward urban hipsters, the pre-paid service is now positioned more broadly as value play.