SEO 'big factor' in the Independent's growth

10th April 2008

The Independent has recently seen its online market share expand - and search engine optimisation (SEO) is largely to thank for its growth, claims Hitwise.

On his blog for the web traffic monitoring service, Robin Goad asserts that while paid search has played apart in the increased success of the newspaper's online incarnation, the role of organic search is perhaps more prominent.

The site has become the seventh most visited site in Hitwise's news and media category, Mr Goad notes.

It was subject to a relaunch earlier this year which saw it incorporate more interactive media and download services.

And while there has been an 84 per cent fall in the proportion of traffic the site receives from searches on its own brand name since November, the period has reportedly seen the number of distinct words and phrases sending users to the site grow from 1,000 to 10,000.

The number of visits the site receives from Google News has increased ten-fold in the past year, although it is reportedly still behind broadsheet peers the Guardian, the Times, the FT and the Telegraph, as well as tabloid rivals the Daily Mail and the Sun.