FT.com attracts 500,000 registered users under new access model
The number of registered users has more than trebled since changes were made to the registration process
– 1 min read
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The Financial Times (FT) has broken the 500,000 mark for registered users to its website.
The figure has risen from 150,000 at the end of 2007 to 500,000 in July, the title's publisher Pearson said in its first-half results published today .
The number of registered users to the site is increasing year-on-year and has been boosted by changes made to the subscription barriers on the site in October last year, a press release from the FT said.
The site has gained an average of 12,000 unique users a week since introducing the new system, which allows all users free access to their first five articles with registration required for up to 30 articles a month.
Under the system, further articles would only be available by paying a subscription fee, taken up by 100,000 readers, the report said.
Page views have increased by 63 per cent and unique users by 18 per cent in comparison with figures from last year, Rob Grimshaw, managing director of FT.com, said.
"These figures show just how much of a success this new access model has been. It is testament to the high-quality content available on FT.com,” said Grimshaw.
The site has also allowed third party websites, such as blogs and news aggregators, to access and link to FT.com content more easily.
A new corporate licensing system, which gives unlimited cross-platform access to FT content, has also improved digital revenues for the publisher with 350 clients.
“By creating a direct relationship with clients we are learning how they derive value from Financial Times content and as a consequence we are granting wider usage and distribution rights. We have designed the license to be platform neutral to give our customers the flexibility of accessing our journalism through whichever technology solutions are most suited to the way they work,” John Ridding, FT CEO, said.
Written by
Laura Oliver is a freelance journalist, a contributor to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, co-founder of The Society of Freelance Journalists and the former editor of Journalism.co.uk (prior to it becoming JournalismUK)
