14 DAY TRIAL // Web analytics firm StatCounter recently announced that Twitter had generated almost one in ten Social Media global hits to websites during March 2010. StatCounter's research arm, Global Stats, unveiled that the main source of traffic to websites was Facebook, as it accounted for 48 percent of all Social Media hits, and that StumbleUpon came in on the second position with 25 percent. According to the research firm, its findings are based on data that puts together 13 billion page views across its global network of member sites.
“From a business perspective the findings suggest that there is merit in having a corporate Facebook page or Twitter account,” Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter, commented. “The surprise packet is StumbleUpon, which over the past year has been consistently in the top two Social Media sites in terms of generating global website traffic. Indeed, in the US in March StumbleUpon was number one ahead of Facebook in terms of website traffic generation.”
The data gathered by StatCounter Global Stats shows that, while Facebook, StumbleUpon and Twitter are the three destinations that generate the most Social Media hits to websites, other sites have their share too. Among them, the research firm counts YouTube, which accounts for six percent of the hits, reddit, with four percent, or Digg and MySpace, both with two percent. The data included 25 of the main such sites, the research firm stated, adding that the recently launched Google Buzz had been excluded from the analysis.
“Social Media market share fluctuates a lot more than browser or search statistics. For example, Facebook peaked over Christmas and the New Year with almost three quarters of the total, perhaps reflecting its important role in communications between families and friends,” Cullen stated. The professional Social Media site LinkedIn came in on the 12 position with 0.34 percent of the global hits, and Cullen concluded, “This does not reflect its importance as a business site as it is not directly comparable to the more consumer focused sites.”
Social Media has been added only recently to StatCounter Global Stats, a free online research tool for analysts, bloggers, the media and researchers. The research solution has been designed for monitoring the Internet market share of various players, including search engines, browsers, operating systems and social media.