As you may have read in a previous issue, Green Left Online has once again been ranked by Hitwise in the top 10 most visited Australian websites in the category "Lifestyle — Politics".
Hitwise ranked our website number eight for the six-month period to June 2010. Green Left was also in the top 10 in the previous six months, and has won several such awards in the past.
Our web readership has been growing over the past three months. In June, we had 70,272 visits, 94,719 in July and 118,764 in August. Page views for these three months were 97,103, 134,017 and 166,176.
The December 2009 Australian Bureau of Statistics' Household Use of Information Technology report, access to the internet at home from 1998 to 2008-09 more than quadrupled from 16% to 72%.
The spread of iPhones, iPads and other such mobile devices is opening up internet readership, especially among young people. The FAST growth of social networking applications like Facebook and Twitter has turbocharged this process.
Over the Past three months, visits to Green Left Online from mobile devices also rose sharply: 1362 in June; 2117 in July; and 2868 in August.
This is still a small part of our web readership, but we can expect it to grow fast, with spikes on days when there are major political developments.
We are still improving the Green Left website with an eye to attracting more readers, increasing the through-the-week updates, and getting visitors to read other articles on the site.
We will also look for ways to increase the multimedia component of the website.
In the meantime, you can help by sending in articles, taking photos or making short videos for Green Left and by passing on links to our articles to your friends and workmates who you think may be interested in a particular story. Email our stories, Facebook them, Twitter them — or do the lot!
However, it remains the case that it is mainly people who buy the printed Green Left Weekly that keep this project afloat.
So, if you are a regular reader of Green Left Online, please consider making a regular donation or taking out an e-subscription. You will receive an email digest of the site’s new content each week.
Green Left Weekly aims to keep afloat this year with the help of a fighting fund target of $300,000. Our supporters have raised $153,798 so far. Please help us raise the rest.
Donate online today, or make a direct deposit to Greenleft, Commonwealth Bank, BSB 062-006, account no. 00901992. Otherwise, you can send a cheque or money order to PO Box 515, Broadway NSW 2007 or donate on the toll-free line at 1800 634 206 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1800 634 206 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1800 634 206 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1800 634 206 end_of_the_skype_highlighting (within Australia).