> From the WeatherWatch archives
WeatherWatch.co.nz has shown strong growth throughout 2010 according to Google Analytics.
The growth has exceeded all expectations with the site gaining over 39% more visits than in 2009.
“Considering 2010 has been a fairly quiet year weatherwise we’re quite humbled by the figures” says Philip Duncan, head weather analyst at WeatherWatch.co.nz.
“It reinforces what we already know, that weather plays a major part in the lives of New Zealanders and that weather news and personalised forecasts are the way of the future – and that all content must be free to access”.
The large storm in September, which was exclusively predicted first by WeatherWatch.co.nz, created the biggest spike in ratings. “It wasn’t a matter of creating headlines, as the hits clearly show that people came to WeatherWatch.co.nz while the storm was hitting and not the week before when we first predicted it. I believe it’s these early discussions of systems moving in that many find useful” says Mr Duncan.
Exclusive weather photos and news stories have also been picked up frequently by the big players in news, including the New Zealand Herald, Newstalk ZB and Prime News. CNN, BBC and Sky News have also run exclusive WeatherWatch.co.nz content throughout 2010.
While WeatherWatch.co.nz remains fairly small compared to the mainstream media the website is proving to be the trusted source in weather news. “During the September storm we had more hits than some mainstream news websites and we certainly gave some of them a run for their money during the Christchurch earthquake and Chile tsunami. If it’s a natural disaster people come to our site – weather related or not”.
The website had 1.8 million pageviews over 2010, up almost 43% on last year while demands for WeatherWatch.co.nz’s independent Auckland forecasts jumped 86% over the previous year.
The biggest jump in ratings was in the News section. “We have made a major effort to increase the number of stories we produce on our quieter weeks” says Mr Duncan.
The WeatherWatch.co.nz Archives show that in December 2007 just 12 stories were published to the site. In 2008 that jumped to 118, in 2009 it climbed to 197 and this December it will have a total of 230 stories for the month – that equates to about 7 or 8 new stories every day.
Mr Duncan says there are big plans for 2011. “We are aware our site hasn’t changed much over the past 18 months, mostly due to the poor economy slowing our plans down. In 2011 we are going to be adding a detailed maps page, more news content, videos and more forecasts”.
WeatherWatch.co.nz thanks all the regular readers and contributors for helping make 2010 a successful year – and we wish you all the best for 2011.
Before you add a new comment, take note this story was published on 31 Dec 2010.
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Zelda Wynn on 31/12/2010 10:56pm
Impressive hit numbers to the website! Phil & other contributors have done a superb job collating and writing weather stories.
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Guest on 31/12/2010 10:19pm
Hi, Happy New Year Phil and the team, yes I am a very regular visit to your site, and the first I visit when I get home from work everyday. I enjoy all the articles and reading replies, cheers.
Hope it’s a good year.
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Derek on 31/12/2010 9:25pm
Happy New Year WW and may 2011 bring more of the same excellent weather/news reporting that was available in 2010.
Your site is certainly my mainstream weather info base followed closely by MetVuw so between these great sites I can get a very accurate picture of the local weather. (This is due to the fact you do not as yet provide daily forecasts for other than Auckland, which I hope in time you will).
Thanks for the great job you & your team do and I hope your future plans will see fruition this year, although we all know what hurt the NZ economy is having on us.
Looking forward to 2011 for continuing good weather info.
By the way, do you provide a mobile phone app for the site? if not I hope you might consider doing so.
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Claire on 31/12/2010 8:27pm
Your coverage of the Chile tsunami was the best available, and you had Philip right on the spot for some of the earliest reporting from the Christchurch earthquake. I find your forecasts much more accurate and LOVE the lightning tracker. Keep it up, guys.
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