The Lebanon Voice continues its evolution from a primitive drag and drop website back in April 2012 to a fully functioning online newspaper with mobile capability and a full line of advertising options for our clients.
According to Google Analytics, the gold standard in online performance review, we now have more than 35,000 unique visitors a month, with a record earlier this month of 4,565 visitors in one day. In the most recent month, alone, we grew by more than 15 percent.
In the past month, almost 37 percent of our visitors were "new" visitors getting their local news and information for the first time on The Lebanon Voice.
Last month you may recall that we did a major redesign, enlarging and simplifying use of our Top Story slot at the top of our Home Page.
Rochester is a thriving city, boasting three great shopping complexes, the cultural jewel of the region that is the Rochester Opera House and a vibrant and varied downtown full of great places to shop, dine and gather at.
Milton and Lebanon, a stone's throw away, share a recreational gem that is just now beginning to sparkle, namely Milton Three Ponds, as well as a quaint and quiet atmosphere that harkens back to years gone by.
The three communities feed off each other, depend on each other and should work together to continue the progress that's been made.
The growth of The Lebanon Voice in just a month over four years has been nothing short of miraculous.
Now to continue that growth and improve our ability to report the news to the tens of thousands who depend on us and due to bandwidth cost that we are charged to serve our growing audience, The Lebanon Voice on Monday or shortly thereafter as technical issues may dictate, will be installing a modest paywall.
The cost of reading the stories produced by The Lebanon Voice for those paying annually will be about 13 cents a day.
That's about what it cost to buy a daily newspaper in the 1960s.
The money raised will go toward buying new equipment, hiring staff and increasing our circulation.
In other words, it will go toward making The Lebanon Voice an even better online source for the information you want and need.
We hope you will continue to make The Lebanon Voice your single most important and relevant read of the day.
Thank you.