By: Joe Nicholson Online Visitors More Likely To Start Subscription
Stop worrying about Web cannibals! You are not going to be eaten!
Visiting a newspaper Web site increases the likelihood that a
person will start a subscription to a print newspaper or buy
single copies, according to a survey of more than 8,000 Web
crawlers by Belden Associates, a Dallas-based newspaper research
firm.
Most Web visitors didn't change their subscription habits, but
5.6% started subscriptions, whereas only 3.1% stopped
subscriptions, the survey showed.
Single-copy sales showed a similar pattern: Most visitors didn't
change their habits, but 14% bought more single copies, whereas
10% reported they bought fewer.
S. W. "Sammy" Papert III, Belden's chairman and CEO, said the
survey shows newspaper Web sites "extend a newspaper's reach" to
a new readership - and in many cases a readership that has
been at risk: younger adults, teen-agers, and infrequent readers.
Though more than 80% of dailies have their own Web sites, Papert
said the remaining papers should realize it is "very important"
for them to set up Web sites.
Surveyed were visitors to four midsize newspaper Web sites and a
portal in locations from Southern California to New Hampshire.
Joe Nicholson (jnicholson@editorandpublisher.com) is an associate editor covering marketing and advertising for E&P.
Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.
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