West Virginia Explorer Magazine has surpassed a rate of 2.5-million readers annually or an average of more than 7,000 readers daily, according to its publisher.
The rate represents an increase in readership of more than 600 percent over the last three years, according to publisher David Sibray, who recently celebrated the magazine's 20th anniversary.
The new rate secures the online magazine's lead among state travel magazines.
"I remember a day a few years ago when we surpassed 900 readers daily, and I was happy, but now we're at more than 7,000 a day, and, though I'm happy, we're poised to work with an even larger audience this year," Sibray said.
Of the 2.5 million readers, the top seven percent hale from Washington, D.C., while the next largest reader markets come from Charleston, W.Va., and New York City.
"Because we're entirely online, we have an ability to reach deep into other markets that print publications can't easily reach these days, though, of course, I was a print publisher before I decided to give up ink and paper," Sibray said.
Andrew Smith, executive director of the Braxton County Convention and Visitors Bureau, says the magazine is providing his organization an exceptionally high rate of traffic.
"The amount of impressions and click-throughs to our website has far exceeded what we expected before signing on," Smith said.
"I have not found any other content-driven advertising opportunity that offers this kind of flexibility and trackability. There is nothing worse than spending thousands on a print ad only to be at a loss as to tell whether anyone cared about your message."
Organizations that wish to reach the West Virginia-centric market through news may submit story ideas and press releases to editor@wvexplorer.com.
For more information on advertising, call 304-575-7390 or message whitney@wvexplorer.com.
