Chartbeat’s third quarter global audience engagement insights confirmed what we’ve known for some time — mobile readership is growing rapidly across the world. 

About 40% of direct visits take place on mobile devices, according to our global publishing data. As if that weren’t enough to get your distribution strategy in order, we’ve found that poor mobile user experiences could be impacting your ability to drive reader revenue.

Below, our most recent snapshot of the global audience engagement landscape and what they mean for the global media and publishing communities.

(Compare to our previous findings: See the first quarter and second quarter insights)

Africa, Southern Europe see mobile increases

Mobile pageviews are continuing to climb in Africa, increasing from 77% to 79% in the past quarter. Mobile readership jumped across the rest of the world as well, notably in Southern Europe, which increased from 61% to 65%.

(Related: Mobile aggregators: The next major source of referral traffic)

Search traffic in Central Asia, China rises

Pageviews coming from search engines continue to climb across Asia compared to last quarter. Search engine traffic in Central Asia is up 2% (now 30%), while China is up 3% (now 29%), and Southeast Asia increased by one percent (now 23%).

Southeast Asia still leading in social pageviews

There’s something special about social interactions in Southeast Asia. For the third consecutive quarter, this region has made up the greatest share in percent of all pageviews coming from social platforms, holding steady at 31%.

(For more on social media best practices, see: When is the best time to post on social media? It’s later than you think)

Reader engagement highest in Latin America

Three quarters in a row, readers across Latin America showed the highest Average Engaged Time at over 34 seconds. Close behind, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. We’re continuing to look into the drivers of growth, but we have seen major innovations among publishers in the region.

(For more on Engaged Time, see Using the Engaged Time metric to grow audiences, unlock loyal readership)

Northern Europe loyalty highest despite drop

Northern European readers have lead loyalty metrics for three straight quarters, with the highest percentage of loyal* pageviews (46%) compared to total pageviews among readers. 

This matters — there have been clear lines drawn between reader loyalty and the willingness to subscribe.

*A loyal reader is someone who returns to your site in at least 50% of days in a two-week period.

Audience engagement insights: What we saw this past quarter

Quick takeaways on international audience engagement highlights from this past quarter:

Strategize for regions and devices

Segmentation is key to reaching new audiences and expanding current readership. The surge in mobile and search traffic across the world can show publishers:

• How regions interact with content irrespective of one another. 
• Where readers are and how they engage with content, which will ultimately benefit their audience development efforts.

(For further reading, see: Leverage emails for engaged readers: Audience growth strategies from GQ)

Leverage Engaged Time

High Average Engaged Times across the world, particularly in Latin America, present new opportunities to build loyal readers. Our research shows loyal readers consume more content, so optimizing articles to ensure readers are Recirculating will help media companies get the most out of their increased engagement.

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