News24.com recorded more than one million unique local visitors in the past month, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. An Internet expert says this shows the importance of the medium for content and advertising.
The Internet news site, which is part of the giant Naspers stable of media companies, now accounts for 16.6% of the total South African online experience. The country has an estimated four million online users out of a total population of 48 million.
Arthur Goldstuck, MD of local research firm World Wide Worx, says News24.com`s achievement is remarkable, but cautions it must not fall into the number of users trap as overseas companies have done.
"Their statistics suggest they have achieved an unprecedented market penetration. However, this success does hold the danger that just going after traffic for its own sake can lead to a dilution in the quality of content," he says.
Goldstuck points to the late 1990s experience by US media group Time Warner that pursued a strategy of increasing traffic to its "pathfinder Web sites". This was to the detriment of its underlying brand sites, and it caused a rebellion by the latter.
He says News24.com`s growth, though, is encouraging for the online media industry as a whole as it shows how serious Internet use is becoming.
"Media houses cannot afford to ignore online advertising as an outlet, in the same way as they cannot afford to ignore other outlets such as billboards and cinemas," Goldstuck says.
News24.com says two of its key attractions have been the increase in user-generated content, mainly blogging, and the fact that it uses columnists, such as Goldstuck, to attract readers.
Even though user-generated content makes up only 8% of News24.com`s readership, it is an audience that was relatively easy to attract, Goldstuck says.
"Increasing your readership by 8% by only having to put in place an engine and very little effort is great."
Continuous posting of new news stories has been key to News24.com`s strategy and Goldstuck says this is important if one wants to keep attracting visitors to a site.
"Every time a visitor logs on, there must be something new. This is the lifeblood of a news site," he says.
Goldstuck predicts Internet usage is poised for massive growth in SA over the next two to three years, due to the lowering costs of connectivity and increased infrastructure investment.
"Those sites that are attracting the readership numbers now are the ones that will be able to benefit the most from this increase."
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