Unique Visitors

So, last week's online stats were sent around our newsroom.

We had five thousands LESS "unique visitors" than we have subscribers who get the paper EVERY DAY!

How's that internet working out?

 

What efforts are your paper taking to increase "unique visitors?" You have an entire circulation department dedicated to getting the paper into the hands of subscribers. How many people do you have dedicated to internet marketing? Do you have daily emails? Do you have text messages to alert potential readers to breaking news? Do you have an RSS feed?

What do you think would happen if you left all your papers in the warehouse and just waited for subscribers to pick up the papers? That's how many newspapers are treating their online content. "Well we put it on the web, what more do you expect?"

 

Thank you.

 

It's about marketing and content. How often is the Web site updated? Any original Web content? What type of stories are on the front page of the Web site?

There are several newspaper in my chain that have a lot more uniques than subscribers. The one's that don't, I can tell why just looking by looking at the main page. Old stories. Stories about some boring Cookie Club meeting. Gamers that are two days old. Web surfers want new content.

 

Our paper offers RSS feeds, updates breaking news as it happens, has blogs for seemingly everything (some I find of quality), a new video five times a week, at least one slide show per day, uses facebook, uses twitter.

Need I say more?

 

Yes, tell me why they called it 5,000 less unique visitors instead of 5,000 fewer visitors.

 

Ouch! It's gotta be the grammar!

 

I still don't think newspapers understand that perusing a Web site for news is different than reading a newspaper. People want to get in and get out.
I really like the way Newser.com aggregates their stuff - sure I'd prefer it if they slotted the news, business, sports and entertainment stuff in their own categories, but I enjoy the feature that provides the first graf of the story without having to click.

 

Design?

 

Tell that to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. [/crossthreading]

 

There's a lot more competition on the Web. You can't just put crap content up under the paper's name and expect people to flock to it.

You have to market it and it has to actually be interesting. Two things many newspapers don't do as well as they should.

 

All the internet did for newspapers was hurry the extinction of newspapers. By thinking it was the way to go and would be ultimately profitable, the internet hurried the slashings of newspaper staffs and crucified the newsprint product. Bye bye newspaper business thanks to said internet.