Monthly Web report: Election Day brought new daily traffic record

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The performance of latimes.com, and recent developments there, are covered in this memo to staff from Executive Editor for Interactive Meredith Artley.

Colleagues: Our online readership is growing all the time. We broke some more records, with 139 million page views for October and 24 million unique users. But let’s not bury the lede, as they say.

On election day we had 8.36 million page views, breaking the previous daily traffic record of 8.2 million set during the October ’07 fires. So we have a new daily record, right? Not so fast. The following day, Nov. 5, we drew in even more readers with our coverage of Prop. 8, reaching more than 10.2 million page views. All of these numbers serve to illustrate that what so many of you are doing is resonating in very significant ways, at a time when readers have more choices than ever.

Highlights of our election coverage included our interactive, real-time “How California voted” map that was second only to the homepage on Nov. 4 and 5 (thanks, Fishbowl LA, for the compliment). There was also a real-time results map for the nation, plus wonderful photos and video and up-to-the minute, expertly edited articles and blog posts. Dozens and dozens of our talented colleagues from every key department worked together and created a unique site and service. The planning and execution were uncannily smooth for such a big event.

We had other great successes way back in October, including great coverage of the fires with a Google map that had live updates on traffic, evacuations and school closures. Pop & Hiss launched, our new music blog with our best and brightest voices. Don Bartletti and John Vandewege produced a stunning video with Marjorie Miller’s Harris fire stories. Even if the Dodgers let us down, great coverage of the series and accompanying multimedia did not disappoint. A strong presentation for the Gangster series, the launch of a central page for all data projects and fun Halloween coverage in The Guide rounded out a strong month. On to the lists….

Top Blogs for October

Blog readership also hit a high in October, and eight blogs marked individual records – look for the asterisks. Guess who’s at the top of the ticket list…

1. The Ticket: 4,292,969 *
2. Dish Rag: 1,967,750
3. Show Tracker: 1,033,794
4. Countdown to Crawford *
5. Fabulous Forum (first full month)
6. Hero Complex *
7. L.A. Now
8. L.A. Land
9. Web Scout
10. Money & Co. *
11. Lakers
12. All the Rage *
13. Tech Blog
14. Daily Travel & Deal Blog
15. Big Picture
16. Entertainment News & Buzz *
17. Homicide Report
18. Booster Shots
19. Up to Speed *
20. Gold Derby

Most-viewed articles

1. Father kills family and himself, despondent over financial losses (Richard Winton, Evelyn Larrubia and Kimi Yoshino)
2. Schwarzenegger to U.S.: State may need $7-billion loan (Marc Lifsher and Evan Halper)
3. Effigy of Sarah Palin hanging by a noose creates uproar in West Hollywood (Victoria Kim)
4. McCain campaign accuses L.A. Times of ‘suppressing’ Obama video (staff)
5. Mishaps mark John McCain’s record as naval aviator (Ralph Vartabedian and Richard A. Serrano)
6. Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Barack Obama (Peter Wallsten) (April story in news)
7. Frank talk of Obama and race in Virginia (Peter Wallsten)
8. Steve Schmidt: The driving force behind John McCain (Dan Morain and Bob Drogin)
9. Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd, was a fixture at governor’s office (Kim Murphy)
10. Voters say they were duped into registering as Republicans (Evan Halper and Michael Rothfeld)

Top photo galleries

1. The men (and women) of Madonna
2. Celebrities by The Times
3. Celebrity ink
4. Late night politics: A crazy week in review
5. The Guide: Mobile and Manufactured Communities in Malibu
6. Marek and Sesnon fires
7. Comparing airlines Airbus A380s
8. Hollywood splits: telltale signs
9. Mongols motorcycle gang sweep
10. Celebrity Halloween costumes

Top 10 videos for October

1. Tissue thin ‘buckypaper’ stronger than steel - AP
2. Halloween effigy of Sarah Palin causes controversy - KTLA
3. OJ Simpson found guilty - AP
4. Deputy charged with sexual torture in attack on wife and lover - KTLA
5. Controversial Obama cartoon called racist - KTLA
6. Southland biker gang target of ‘sweep’ - KTLA
7. O.J. Simpson could serve life after being found guilty on all charges - AP
8. Morning Update: Man punches girl at local McDonalds - KTLA
9. Barack Obama makes ‘Daily Show’ appearance - AP
10. Leo Nordine, zen master foreclosure king – LAT (video by Sachi Cunningham)

Special bonus list: The top 20 pages on our site on Nov. 5 (our highest-trafficked day ever)

1. Homepage -- 2,292,075 PVs -- 22.65% of total site traffic
2. Interactive Map: How California Voted California Map -- 811,809 -- 8.02%
3. Photo Gallery (ent): Best and worst of ’08 campaign -- 534,298 -- 5.28%
4. Photo Gallery (autos): Presidential cars then and now
5. Article: California voters approve Proposition 8
6. Article: Gay marriage ban leading
7. Blog: Top of the Ticket
8. Article: Voters approve Proposition 8
9. Main section: California
10. Blog: L.A. Now
11. Search
12. Subsection: Local Politics
13. Article: Gay-rights advocates to challenge Proposition 8
14. Interactive Map: U.S. state-by-state results
15. Article: California propositions on the Nov. 4 ballot
16. Photo Gallery: Obama’s victory: Newspaper covers from around the world
17. Games site
18. Photo Gallery: Proposition 8: Waiting on results
19. Article: Gay rights backers file 3 lawsuits challenging Prop 8
20. Main section: Sports

That’s it. Thanks and congratulations to all of you – so many – who keep contributing to our digital efforts.