Growing traffic to a paid site: ArkansasOnline.com posts online-only content outside its pay-wall
Summary: The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has long been a poster child of paid access, charging for the e-edition, but not posting only limited content from the paper in the main site. Traffic to the site, however, had greatly fallen below the level of its enterprise scale. Online-only content outside the paywall increased traffic while protecting its newspaper subscription base.
Challenge: In The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's website, ArkansasOnline.com, charged for it's e-paper but only had limited content on the html-based site. While subscriptions benefited from the strategy, AO.com director Conan Gallaty, knew the site was underperforming in terms of overall traffic.
Solution: "Our approach is (to post) free content that does not cannibalize the newspaper." In the last three years, the company has added breaking news, blogs, video and monthly contests such as a cutest dog photo and a singing video contest.
"We want to make online a different product, minimizing newspaper articles” emphasizing non-newspaper content. Newspapers using this approach say the goal of the website is not necessarily to convert free traffic to paid subscribers but to retain traffic and brand. "We want everybody in the community, even non-readers, to participate in our site in some way.”
Visitors may also now purchase a 24-hour “day pass” for $0.99, using a system developed internally.
Results: The site's goal was achieved; traffic increased by about 19% in 2009, with unique visitors up 30% over 2008. The day-pass program seen limited success, since about 60% of the passes are bought by out-of-state visitors. However the 40% buying from within the area yields registration information and "more effectively protects our print circulation," Gallaty says.
With 3,500 online subscribers, or about 2% uptake, AO.com also thinks it’s succeeded in defending the print edition. "From a defensive standpoint, we were able to maintain our circulation until 2009, which is doing well compared to peer newspapers." The newspaper also rose to join the top 50 U.S. newspapers in circulation. ”
Lessons learned: The site has maintained both circulation and traffic levels with this approach. The strategy also helps the company distinguish types of content more suited to print or online; 24 hour news up-dates reside on line, while ad driven content stays in the print edition. The downside is protecting content in the e-edition is tactical, rather than strategic.
AO is also looking to experiment with price, such as adding a hybrid print and online rate. "Right now, subscribers at any level, get the same level of access for $5.95. We are looking into tiers and playing with pricing."
The author, Alisa Cromer is publisher of a variety of online media, including LocalMediaInsider and MediaExecsTech, developed while on a fellowship with the Reynolds Journalism Institute and which has evolved into a leading marketing company for media technology start-ups. In 2017 she founded Worldstir.com, an online magazine, to showcases perspectives from around the world on new topic each month, translated from and to the top five languages in the world.
