Local World almost doubles online traffic in 12 months

A year after the launch of Local World, David Montgomery’s regional news publishing business, the company has revealed that it has almost doubled its online traffic.

Local World, which was founded after the acquisition of Northcliffe Media and Iliffe News and Media, recorded 7.3 million users across all of its online newsbrands in December 2012. However, one year on, the company now has over 14 million monthly unique readers – a 94.3% rise.

The sometimes controversial publisher, which has faced criticism over the way it plans to reduce journalist input in local news and have police, hospitals, schools and businesses publish their content directly to Local World websites, now has 107 titles under its operation.

Marking the company’s first birthday, David Montgomery said, “There is a palpable sense of optimism in the business, as we are leading the industry in digital audience growth through our relentless focus on content. The figures…illustrate the progress we have made in expanding our reader base.”

In a statement released on Tuesday, Local World said the focus in 2014 will be to deliver a “fully transformed digital transactional business”. The company also highlighted plans to relaunch local print publications.

“This united print and online publishing approach, underpinned by investment in technology and training, will enable us to fulfil our ambition to drive strong revenue, as well as audience growth,” Montgomery said.