At Doppler we are celebrating a bit of a milestone. It has been two very busy months since we went live and we want to share some of the highlights with you.
In the past two months our prolific writers have posted 268 stories! That’s a little over four stories a day, every day of the week!
And our readers have posted 269 comments to the Doppler site, and many, many more to our Facebook page. From the outset our goal has been to foster debate that encourages thoughtful exchanges where people take responsibility for their opinions. I think our readers will agree that the comments we receive are insightful, intelligent and without malice. Thank you for playing by the rules! Keep on typing.
Not surprisingly, our News category page gets the most hits, followed by the Community category. Perhaps what is surprising though, is that the stories that are read the most are the ones about people and community. Town council meetings are important, but they don’t define a town, the people do. Our readers have demonstrated, in a measurable way, that they are interested in the people and places in our community.
Number one read story to date? Drum roll please…
Skating trail’s increasing popularity creating traffic and staffing issues at Arrowhead park
That story is closely followed in popularity by Huntsville’s own Ghost Hunters, the tribute to Vicki Dodds, the profile on country singer Riley Towns, and the tribute to Bill Waterhouse.
The theme continued on social media, with our followers liking, sharing and commenting most on stories about people and community: Donnie Eagles’ bronze broom, the Hoyas junior basketball team’s stellar season, the comeback of Ravenscliffe’s historic community centre, a $250,000 award for Huntsville native, Dr. Heather Boon, and a story about the woman behind the decorative bikes that popped up downtown for the Ironman triathlon.
The story that garnered the most comments overall? That would be Hugh Mackenzie’s opinion piece prior to the federal election titled, What’s with the niqab? Again, our readers participated in a thoughtful debate and provided interesting perspectives on the issue. I challenge you to find a more insightful, well-rounded discussion anywhere else.
You want to know the numbers? In just two months we have logged over 20,000 unique visitors to the site, 88,000 page views and 40,000 sessions. We continue to work hard to bring well-written stories that matter, that dig deeper, and that are worthy of your time.
So that’s the low down. We’re off to a good start!
We do have one request though.
None of this could have happened without our advertisers – those local businesses that took a leap of faith with us and advertised in a basically unproven commodity.
We write the stories for you but we ask that you look at our advertisers, too. Without your eyes on their ads, we are not sustainable.
Simple enough, right? Look at the ads. Click on the ads. Heck, when you can, frequent their business.
Thank you!
If you will allow us a second request? Sign up on the home page to receive our twice weekly email reminders called Recently on Doppler, with direct links to some of that week’s most popular stories. Please bring us into your home every day. We won’t disappoint and if we do, you know where to find us!
I have just discovered Doppler from postings on Facebook. Living in Switzerland it is great to have news from the people in the community of my hometown. Your articles are interesting, well written and informative. Keep up the good work and congratulations on your 2 month existence. You are definitely off to a great start.
Thank you for Doppler, even though I live in the UK but frequent Huntsville often it is great to keep up to date.
Huntsville DOPPLER is accurate, informative E-journalism at its very community-focused best – and long after the story, live-chat discussions follow amongst friends, relatives, and acquaintances —
– an excellent communication format — and a most reasoned and researched read —–
– sponsors are pleasantly and politely interspersed with the subject matter in a civilized and engaging way –
– minimal sensationalism –
– maximum factual disclosure —
– articles and comments are worthy of e-storage for future refernce and review –
I appreciate your email reminders of Doppler highlights!
Great way to enjoy my morning coffee. Fantastic Job!!
Happy 2 month anniversary Doppler, you don’t look a day over 2 weeks by the way. Looking good.
Congratulations Doppler team! A new venture is not easy but you’ve made it look as though it is. Keep up the good work.