I wondered if I was going to start up these monthly reports again when launching The Watercraft Journal. When the going is good, it’s really easy to want to brag, but hubris has been the cause of many a fall and I just didn’t want to repeat the past. Yet, I’ve always I felt that it’s imperative that for an online publication to be relevant in a hyper-competitive environment, it needs to be forthright with its numbers. So with that, I present the first edition of The Watercraft Journal By The Numbers.
Humorously, The Journal has been in publication for less than a month – we “pulled the trigger” late Saturday night, November 9th, specifically. Even with a shortened month, an usually cold November to boot, a few pretty big holidays on the calendar, and significantly less social media build-up as I would’ve normally preferred, I felt a confluence of emotions when the readership numbers came in as strong as they did; humility, enthusiasm, excitement, panic and excitement again.
As you may know, The Watercraft Journal is the online publication that I’ve been wanting to launch since January of 2010. I only regret that it’s taken me this long (as a couple false starts) to get here. Owned and operated by my wife and I, The Watercraft Journal is not only the daily source for all-things PWC, but the outward face of Watercraft Outfitters, an online retailer that will provide you, the personal watercraft enthusiast with the best products in the industry.
Right Out of The Gate
As a big fan of competitive drag racing (well, really street racing, but you didn’t hear that from me), there’s something to be said about starting off right. In the course of just over four weeks (including late October), The Watercraft Journal has published 13 feature articles totaling 11,699 words (excluding all of the news and new product releases we provide on a daily basis). That’s more articles than a 90-page print publication.
Feature articles published in November: 9
Total word count: 9,027 words*
*When this number is translated to print publication standards equals a 88-page magazine. Please note that this number does not include an average of two uniquely-written news articles published daily.
Holiday Readership
It’s pretty impressive that in light of the riding season winding down, The Watercraft Journal is drawing in so many diehard enthusiasts each and every day. With nearly 75-percent of The Watercraft Journal’s readership still being new to the daily publication, it’s pretty evident that there’s still many, many more readers to come!
Total number unique readers: 6,236*
Total number of articles read: 17,072
Mobile users: 35%
*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.
Where You Are
Online publications have to work a little harder to gain legitimacy with more traditional readers (just as ProRider). So to get The Journal out to as many eyes as possible, outlets like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and a weekly newsletter as this publication’s newsstand. Why? Think about it; Facebook has a over 900 million users and is y’know, basically every forum on the Internet in one place.
Current Facebook readers: 1,011
Current Facebook weekly reach: 19,623
Average Facebook readers’ age: 25-44 (equaling 47% of total readership)
Top Five countries: United States, Australia, United Kingdom, France, South Africa
Without Missing a Beat
With December already upon us, I’m extremely excited for the next few weeks. We’ve got so many really awesome product and vehicle reviews that I’m having a hard time being patient and sprinkling them out over the course of the month (as you might’ve guessed, I ruin the surprise of Christmas morning all too often). I’m hoping you’ve enjoyed The Watercraft Journal and promise to deliver on bringing you the very best – and the most – content in the personal watercraft industry.
