Standard Digital beats local rivals hands down

A section of the Standard Digital staff at work. [Killiad Sinide Msafiri, Standard]

Standard Digital portal www.standardmedia.co.ke has been ranked the most popular news website in Kenya, a new report has revealed.

Standard Digital, a product of The Standard Group, delivers breaking news from across Kenya and the world. It gives the audience information on the latest political stories, business, sports and entertainment.

The top ranking is contained in a report titled Kenya Media Landscape Report July 2019 by Research Company Trends and Insights for Africa (TIFA) that was released today.

According to the survey, more users visit the Standard Digital website than Facebook and Twitter.

A section of the Standard Digital staff at work. The website has shaken off stiff competition in the digital space to emerge top. [Killiad Sinide Msafiri, Standard]

Nation.co.ke is ranked fourth, Tuko fifth, Kenyans.co.ke sixth, and citizentv.co.ke tenth.

Only two international giants, Google and YouTube are ahead of Standard Digital in the Kenyan market.

The report added that users are spending an average of eight minutes and 12 seconds on the news site, eight seconds more than they do on Google.

“We are listening more to the audience by using analytics. We understand what they want, how they behave and how they want their content,” said Carole Kimutai, the managing editor of Standard Digital.

She added that all reporters (digital, print and TV) are now more than ever appreciative of online media and file stories for the website.

“The team work has made the website stronger and it will only get better as we focus on convergence,” she said.

Standard Digital Entertainment is ranked as the leading entertainment site in Kenya.

Kenya Revenue Authority’s website tops in the most visited Government-owned sites at position seven. The rise in traffic can be attributed to the mandatory filing of tax returns.

Three betting sites (Sportpesa, Betin and 1xbet) are also among the 20 most visited sites.

TIFA says it sourced the data from Alexa, a worldwide system that estimates website traffic basing on data from a sample of millions of Internet users using one of many different browser extensions.

Internet growth

This is as the data market grew by 173 per cent within four years.

According to the report, the Seacom fibre cable launched in 2009 reduced internet costs by up to 95 per cent whilst still a far greater speed of connection.

“There was an increase in access to mobile broadband at a more affordable price. It should be noted that the mobile phone is the most available and preferred medium of accessing the internet with over 90 per cent market share,” the report notes.

It adds that internet has facilitated on-demand access to content, anytime, anywhere on any digital device and has resulted into the democratization of information.