Since our launch in 2009, SamRayburn.com has become the #1 online destination for Sam Rayburn visitors, weekenders and residents. In 2015 SamRayburn.com experienced another record-breaking year with over 155,000 unique visitors and 1.1 million page views, up over 10% from 2014. SamRayburn.com has received over 5.5 million page views from 590,000 unique visitors since the launch in 2009.
Heavy Rainfall Generated Record Traffic
When the rainfall began in the spring of 2015 visitors and residents turned to SamRayburn.com to monitor the water levels and weather reports. The heavy rainfall generated a single day traffic record to SamRayburn.com on May 27, 2015 with over 2,200 user sessions. It is no surprise that the lake water level page became the fastest growing page in 2015 with a 312% traffic increase over 2014.
More Real Estate Searchers = More Inquiries
The real estate section of SamRayburn.com also experienced significant growth in 2015 as potential real estate buyers turned to SamRayburn.com for real estate information. Visitors to the real estate section of the site increased over 69% from 2014 to 2015. SamRayburn.com also generated over 1400 email inquiries for real estate and vacation rental listings in 2015.
Users Visiting Site Directly
As SamRayburn.com continues to gain popularity more users are simply skipping Google search and visiting SamRayburn.com directly. The number of direct acquisitions of users increased 24% from 2014 to 2015. This is a great indication that users realize they can come directly to SamRayburn.com for all the lake information they need.
Nearly 2 of 3 Visitors on Mobile Devices
When we launched the site in 2009 less than 1% of the visitors originated on mobile devices. With proliferation of smartphones and tablets the traffic has changed dramatically in the past few years. In 2015 smartphone traffic was up 43% over 2014 with smartphones and tablets now accounting for 61% of the traffic to SamRayburn.com.
Ongoing Innovation
We are constantly innovating and investing in the technology platform for SamRayburn.com. In 2015 we launched a new, mobile-friendly version of our Sam Rayburn Weekender email newsletter that reaches over 6,000 fans. We also implemented NOAA weather alerts that are posted to SamRayburn.com as well as the Sam Rayburn twitter feed.
Business Owners – Don’t Miss Out!
As always, SamRayburn.com presents an incredible opportunity for lake area businesses generate visibility among local residents, weekenders and lake visitors starting at just $25/mo. We expect to reach over 400,000 unique visitors in 2015 so don’t miss out! More advertising information can be found at SamRayburn.com/advertising.
Photo courtesy of Ken St. Ama contributed to our Sam Rayburn Photos section of the site.