According to the most recent ABC Electronic (ABCe) figures – the digital arm of newspaper circulation auditors – Independent Digital and independent.ie racked up four million unique browsers in March 2012, up 25% on its last audit. Page impressions have also grown and are at 46 million.
The controversial story ‘Australian Embassy blasts racist advert asking “no Irish” to apply for bricklaying job’ created a reaction from users and was the most-shared story on Independent.ie in March.
The core demographic of the site is in the 25-34 bracket and their news consumption habits were evident as video views and social media shares ranked very highly.
“This growth reflects the adoption of a number of initiatives focused on driving user engagement across the site,” says Ian Byrne, CEO, Independent Digital.
An enhanced multimedia strategy, which includes re-launching a commenting facility early last year and a new video channel as well as dynamic photo galleries, has resulted in a surge in page impressions.
