Web analytics firm KYA runs software that is used by more than 500 publisher sites. They recently analyzed how users engage with digital news content on those sites, based on a six-month sample of 15 million unique visitors across 530 sites in their network. The data is interesting in that it shows some real, if small, differences in how users consume news. For publishers, it’s a snapshot of how — and when — to publish content when your goal is maximum engagement.
Here are six of the key findings from KYA’s analysis.
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Engagement is highest at the beginning of the week
Page scroll is a consistent 50 percent
Users spend less time reading on weekends, barely
And less time clicking on weekends (phew!)
Users are most click-happy in the evening
Which means overall engagement is highest in the evening
Bonus insights
- Total page views are highest on mobile devices.
- Facebook is the top referrer overall to publishers.
- Total engagement is four points higher on desktop than on mobile.
- Friday has the fewest pageviews of any day of the week.
A spreadsheet with the full analysis is available here.
Jason Alcorn (@jasonalcorn) is the Metrics Editor for MediaShift. In addition to his work with MediaShift, he works as a consultant with non-profits and newsrooms
