www.interest.co.nz fastest growing business site

www.interest.co.nz fastest growing business site in early 2008

Addition of news, analysis pushes traffic above nbr.co.nz to number 3 spot

Auckland, April 14 - Traffic to investing news and information website www.interest.co.nz leapt 28% in March, extending its strong start to 2008 after the addition of news, commentary and blogging sections.

The site for investors and borrowers posted a record 191,150 page impressions in March, taking it above www.nbr.co.nz on 189,489 page impressions for the first time. The figures from Nielsen Online also show monthly growth in unique browsers of 24.2% to 36,199, making it the fastest growing financial news and information site in New Zealand.

www.interest.co.nz now sits behind www.nzherald.co.nz/business and www.stuff.co.nz/business as the third most popular site for business news and information.

The arrival of former Fairfax business editor Bernard Hickey as managing editor in January and the addition of news, analysis and reader comments has added a new breadth and depth to the site, which was already acknowledged as the most comprehensive and up-to-date site for information on mortgages, term deposits and finance company debentures.

“We’ve published almost 500 articles and dozens of videos about interest rates, the economy, finance companies, banks, house prices and the global credit crunch over the last three months,” said Bernard Hickey, managing editor at www.interest.co.nz.

“We’ve found New Zealanders love to know what’s happening to their house prices, mortgage rates and term deposit rates,” Hickey said.

“Volatile financial markets, sharply rising interest rates and the slump in the housing market have created unprecedented interest in these topics, and we’ve found an insatiable demand from our readers to be part of the debate on our blogs,” he said.

“We’re the only business news site that encourages debate on every story and the only site offering fresh video blogs every day.”

The business and investing video blogs produced by www.interest.co.nz were viewed 15,010 times in March, more than double the number of views in February. The blogs are viewable from www.youtube.com and from www.interest.co.nz. They can also be downloaded from iTunes.

Publisher and owner David Chaston, who launched www.interest.co.nz in 1999, said the increase in the site’s audience and traffic broadened the appeal of the site to financial services and other advertisers looking to get their message across to savers and borrowers.

www.interest.co.nz has the highest average page duration of any business news and information site, with readers staying on any one page for an average of 1 minute and 20 seconds in March. “We have very committed and engaged viewers who are reading our pages closely, including the advertising,” said Chaston.

“Our readers are a self-selecting audience for banks, finance companies, insurance companies, fund managers and others who want to get their message across at a time when readers are making up their minds about whether to borrow or invest and who with,” he said.

The average session duration for each reader is also the longest of any business news and information site, with readers staying on the site an average of 3 minutes and 52 seconds.

ENDS

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