At the end of each year, New Jersey Stage digs into its website statistics. The goal is to take a look at demographics, see how the audience has grown from the year before, and compare the numbers with similar websites. On December 30, 2016, New Jersey Stage used alexa.com to compare its numbers to 20 websites that largely cover arts & entertainment in the Garden State. According to the independent website ranking service, it came out on top.
“Since the beginning, New Jersey Stage has focused on building a core audience,” explained Gary Wien, publisher. “Our goal is a strong local audience within the tri-state area with the majority of people living in New Jersey. We want to help fill the seats at venues across the state. It doesn’t help venues much if website visitors are from distant locations. Readers should be close enough to attend the show. New Jersey Stage is arts driven, not celebrity driven. We believe having a consistent, steady readership is better at accomplishing this goal than having a few articles lure in one-time visitors. And the plan is working.”
The growth of New Jersey Stage could not have happened at a better time. In 2016, the New York Times became the most prominent newspaper to drop coverage of the arts in New Jersey. Newspaper mergers and budget cuts have meant fewer writers are available to cover the arts. New Jersey Stage was created for this very reason. In addition to original features and reviews, the website serves as the state’s leading resource for arts and entertainment news. In 2016, New Jersey Stage published over 2,600 articles, an average of more than 7 per day. Articles covered art, comedy, dance, film, music, and theatre. In addition, the website ran over 4,400 event listings in the past year. In doing so, New Jersey Stage attracted tens of thousands of readers who once relied on newspapers for their news.
“New Jersey Stage continues to grow - both in audience numbers and reputation,” continued Wien. “Our growth comes from innovation. We began by creating a digital magazine unlike anything in the state. We added customized daily and weekly email newsletters last year, and are launching a new online radio station that will spotlight artists from the Garden State.”
There are many websites covering arts and entertainment in the area. Some are web versions of print publications; others exist solely on the web. Some specialize in topics like music or theatre, while others like New Jersey Stage cover a wide range of topics. The report looked at websites that covered only certain areas of the state as well as those that cover all of New Jersey. Alexa.com offers rankings based on a site’s global popularity as well as its ranking within the United States.
Even though the report shows New Jersey Stage has the largest arts and entertainment audience in the state, advertising rates are kept affordable for any arts organization. Ads are sold in package deals that include advertising in the monthly magazine and the daily website at a fraction of the costs of similar websites.
Arts organizations can help New Jersey Stage grow by adding a link to the site on their website, sharing articles on social media, posting their events on the NJ Stage calendar, and advertising. With rates between $50 - $100, there is an ad package for every arts organization.
“We believe nobody covers arts and entertainment in the Garden State like New Jersey Stage,” said Wien. “Arts organizations are right to be worried about the loss of coverage from traditional print media outlets, but they actually control their own destiny. Unlike newspapers, our audience includes only readers interested in the arts and who can attend statewide events. If the arts community threw their support behind us, our audience would be able to surpass the numbers of any newspaper in the state. We see ourselves as a partner to the arts. The more we grow, the better it is for the arts in the New Jersey.”
