— Briona Arradondo, J-Lab intern
The team behind GrossePointeToday.com is demonstrating that flexibility and a consistent focus on improving its site for users can have an impact on audience size and engagement.
Among the changes made after GPT’s president, Sheila Tomkowiak, returned from a Knight Digital Media Center News Entrepreneur Boot Camp, was a refocused mission statement to emphasize the site as “an open forum for discussion from all members of the Grosse Pointe community.”
As a result, readers — particularly community leaders — have begun posting comments more regularly. “The November [2010] elections brought a lengthy heated exchange on our pages from two school board candidates,” said editor and publisher Ben Burns.
New Features Added
A weekly e-newsletter was created to emphasize popular features and the mailing list has doubled in less than a year to roughly 600 people. The rates of people opening the email (47.6 percent) and clicking on links to visit the site (24.9 percent) are higher than the industry average (17.8 and 3.6 percent, respectively), Burns noted. At the same time, the bounce (0.2 percent) and unopened (52.2 percent) rates are lower than average (0.9 and 81.3 percent, respectively).
GrossePointeToday also took advantage of what visibility and site traffic social media can generally offer. After changing to a Facebook “fan” page, as opposed to a “group” page, the site gained more than 450 fans within the first two weeks, Burns said.
One new feature of the site is the “Estate Sale/Garage sale” map, patterned after the site’s already popular public safety map. The area is a “hot place for estate sales,” Burns said. He anticipates that this feature will “draw significant traffic.”
The site’s community calendar also is entirely reader-generated and has up to six events in one day, compared to late 2009 when there were four or five events per month.
Site traffic continued building slowly but at a steady rate through 2010. GrossePointeToday averages about 26,329 page views per month, and search engines account for half of the site’s traffic, Burns said. “When readers find the site, they tend to return,” he added. “Readers were spending two minutes on the site six months ago; that number is now up to four minutes.”
Realizing the site’s value
The community seems to be responding: In early 2010, the site approached the local Junior League offering to partner with them in promoting their Show House. They were uncooperative, and despite that, Burns and his team gave the event coverage. The league has since approached GrossePointeToday to publicize their Christmas fundraiser with copy, photos and an advertisement. “The organization has come to realize our value,” Burns said.
Donations have become GrossePointeToday’s primary means of financial support. In addition to seeking funds from local foundations, the site’s readers are encouraged to contribute. “We have added a donation block to the site so readers can contribute,” Burns said.
Grant proposals for local foundations are in the works. Burns said they have scheduled an early December meeting with the CEO of the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, and they are approaching several small Grosse Pointe area foundations to support a scholarship for student reporters.
The remaining challenge for GrossePointeToday remains generating more revenue. Currently, the site has $24,000 and has started paying veteran freelancers $100 to $200 for in-depth stories. Burns and the GrossePointeToday team are reviewing marketing proposals from area firms and may hire a development or advertising sales representative early in 2011.
“We are hearing more and more that people are finding the site useful and enjoyable,” Burns said. With a renewed focus, GrossePointeToday seeks to tackle those challenges head on in the New Year.
