Website breaks all records

An eventful start to 2012 saw over 1.6 million visitors browse timesofmalta.com in the first 10 days of the year – unprecedented figures for a Maltese website.

That figure jumps five-fold, to just over 8.5 million, when one measures the number of page views by users.

News of New Year’s mysterious fatal stabbings gripped readers from day one of 2012, withover 168,000 flocking to timesofmalta.com to read about developments as they occurred.

But news of the murder was overshadowed just six days later bythe tumultuous political events ofJanuary 6. Reports of an imminent Cabinet reshuffle were first broken by timesofmalta.com, which subsequently kept announcing one exclusive after another – from Cabinet’s renouncing of their €500-a-week honoraria to MP Franco Debono’s declaration that he no longer had faith in Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

The result was a flurry of website activity, with just under 178,000visitors reading approximately 1.1 million pages on timesofmalta.com that day.

Both are records for Maltese websites and leave timesofmalta.com ahead of all other local media outlets. Allied Newspapers executive director AdrianHillman was understandably pleased by the figures. “We’ve come a long way from the 800-odd page views we had when we first launched our website. Since then, there’s been a consistent and steady increase in online readership.”

Mr Hillman, who played an intrinsic role in setting up timesofmalta.com, felt that the website’s ever-growing success was down to those running it.

“The website’s strength lies with the intellectual capacity of those running the show and in theirability to read and understand the ever-changing media landscape. That’s what’s kept us ahead of the curve, in terms of our newspaper, magazines or online platform.”

Online editor Chris Scicluna shied away from the plaudits, saying that website viewing figures were “very encouraging” while also thanking his online and newspaper colleagues for a “collaborative effort”.

“Our website’s average number of page views per day exceeds what competing websites achieve in a week,” Mr Scicluna noted.

Data from online analysts Alexa.com shows how timesofmalta.com is Malta’s fourth-most visited website, with only Google, Facebook and You tube garnering more hits.

According to Alexa.com, the average timesofmalta.com user is 25 to 34, has a university-level education and browses the site from work.

“We have no intention of stopping here,” noted Mr Hillman. “We have a track record of year-on-year improvement which we have no intention of casting aside. There’s room for growth.”