Launched in early August 2012,
BDlive has proved its popularity among readers by breaking its predecessor's daily web traffic record. On Monday, 15 October 2012, the website counted 35,965 unique visitors, compared with the previous record of 34,854 set on the old Business Day website in July.
A steady rise in traffic saw it deliver the news to 337,220 readers in its second month of existence, up 43% from the first month. Readers are also spending more time on the website than on its predecessor, with an average visit lasting more than four minutes.
Overall, BDlive is estimated to already reach about 488,000 people via the web, the mobile site, the apps and social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
Producing quality content
Riaan Wolmarans, executive editor: digital, attributed this success to the fact that the Business Day newsroom, newly reconfigured for this purpose, was "producing quality original content all day long," for both digital and print.
"We are less dependent on news agencies and this, combined with a slick, modern design and useful tools for readers, has been part of the strength of the website." Bronwen Auret, GM of BDFM Digital, said the rising popularity of the site was important in the newspaper's development into a "content business. We are on a good (technical) platform that makes the site work well, with a team that makes it all happen."
For more, go to www.bdlive.co.za.
