"The Sowetan news site is Avusa Media LIVE's second biggest news site after Times LIVE. Its audience has grown from 247 236 unique users in June 2009 to 436 354 unique users in June this year, according to Nielsen's latest figures," says Elan Lohmann, GM of Avusa Media LIVE.
Key changes include a fresher and cleaner look and feel allowing users to find information more quickly and easily. The site facilitates more interactivity with users who can now comment on articles and share their favourite stories via Facebook and Twitter. There is also better multimedia integration with all relevant videos and audio clips and photo slideshows integrated into each article.
"The most significant and exciting aspect of the traffic is that we believe it has by far the highest number of page views per user compared to other South African news sites. With users viewing up to 17 pages per visit and spending an average of six minutes 47 seconds on the site, the longest average time on a news website in South Africa, this is a strong indicator that Sowetan users are actively engaging with the content that Sowetan LIVE offers. Feeling the knock-on effect of this are brands advertising on the site which are experiencing exceptionally high click through rates," Lohmann continues.
Reader research shows that the overall favourite content is breaking news, sport, community news, celebrity gossip including the Shwashwi column, weddings and engagement pages and columnists. An indication of how engaged this audience is with the site and the community-driven spirit that the site engenders is the success of the weddings and engagements blogs.
The majority of readers on the Sowetan news site are black males between the ages of 25 to 34, who speak English at home and earn a combined personal income per household per month of between R12 000 to R15%nbsp;999. They are based in Johannesburg, have a university degree, are qualified employees or experts such as teachers and nurses. The majority of the users access the internet at work via ADSL.
Go to www.sowetanlive.co.za to view the site.
