In a press release issued yesterday the BBC announced the latest traffic statistics for BBC.com, which was said to have recorded 15 million unique users across Europe in the first quarter of the year.

Figures relating to accessing BBC news on mobile devices were also reported, with visits of “around 8.5 million users” across the world visiting the BBC News websites and apps on mobiles or tablets “in an average month”.

See the full release.

• NOTW website sees record traffic after Stephen Gately report
• Eight lessons for publishers from comScore’s new report on mobile
• FT web app has been used 1m times
• Paywall results in for Newsday as US newspapers see dip in traffic
• Welt.de posts record traffic for February

Mike Rawlins, founder of the Stoke-based political hyperlocal site Pits n Pots spoke at the regional Society of Editors meeting today, on the site’s origins and where it plans to move to in the future.

Born out of a desire to “see the city improve”, Rawlins argued that the site aimed to cater for a what he felt was a need for more discussion around local politics, adding that the site’s highly active comment threads today are like a “a proper good pub discussion”.

Pits n Pots holds a simple ethos:

• no editing in audio interviews
• no editing of video interviews
• no spinning stories: it’s always just straight down the line
• any political parties get to use the platform

As Pits n Pots is run by enthusiasts, rather than journalists, it focusses on providing the information, and allows the community to read into it. Not editing interviews also minimises the need for technical expertise.

The site has seen a rapid growth in traffic, moving from around 1,900 unique visitors a day, with 6,000 pageviews in December 2009, up to approximately 12,000 unique visitors and 30,000 pageviews a day in April and May of 2011 as the site provided far more comprehensive coverage of the local elections than the local press. Other successes for the site include providing live coverage of a Stoke on Trent EDL rally, and posting videos from their coverage of the day which resulted in them being the 2nd highest news channel on YouTube globally for two days.

Now supported by the Journalism Foundation, April 2012 saw Pits n Pots attempt a print format, produced by the journalism students at Staffordshire University, printing 50,000 copies. Journalism.co.uk reported that this one-off print edition, which was created as a marketing tool, helped to double Pits n Pots web traffic.

Rawlins says that the site will never be a full time job for him, but he hopes to employ a journalist in the future to progress the site, to facilitate better use of data, more investigative content, and allow better scrutiny of the local council.

He concluded that hyperlocal sites like Pits n Pots would never replace the local paper, and that they can coexist.

• Radical Press news site merges with Pits ‘n’ Pots
• #jpod – Hyperlocal news: Struggles for sustainability online and successes in print
• #VOJ10: Local news at the grassroots
• Media release: Students produce one-off newspaper
• Hyperlocal sites downplayed by MPs and mainstream – signs of progress?

App of the week: AnalyticsPro

Devices: iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch

Cost: £3.99

What is it? An app to track Google Analytics.

How is it of use to journalists? If you have an iOS device and regularly use Google Analytics to track visitors to your news site or blog you should get this app.

It is well worth the £3.99 fee as once you are logged into your Google account you can check stats and dig deep into the visitors, traffic sources, and content of your site.

Do you have a favourite app that you use as a journalist? Fill in this form to nominate an app for Journalism.co.uk’s app of the week for journalists.

• Analytics to help news sites understand the mobile audience
• App of the week for journalists – Flud, an RSS and news reader
• Tool of the week for journalists – TwentyFeet, analytics for your site and social networks
• App of the week for journalists – Astrid Tasks, a task manager for Android
• App of the week for journalists: Viddy, like Instagram for video

Daniel Waisberg, founder and editor of Online Behavior, has written a guide to Google+ analytics.

He states that he will be updating the article as Google releases new features.

The detailed guide is at this link.

• Poynter: How to set up Newsbeat, real-time analytics tool for news sites
• VentureBeat: Twitter launching commercial accounts
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – capturing the value of social media using Google Analytics
• Project Cascade: The New York Times’ new visualisation tool for Twitter tracking
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – Google’s tools for journalists

Google Analytics has added several new reports to allow you to measure social impact.

The Analytics blog has a guide advising how to use the reports, including one which allows you to find out how visitors from different sources behave.

There’s also a new report showing sharing activity from social buttons such as Twitter’s share button.

Tipster: Sarah Marshall

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – try SocialBro for real-time Twitter analytics
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – try Chatterbox analytics
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – Seven steps for building an online community
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – how to create a live Flickr and tweet map
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – who journalists should follow on Twitter

Pinterest has overtaken Twitter as a traffic driver to websites, according to research by Shareaholic, a company that creates content sharing tools for publishers.

This podcast takes a look at how news organisations are using the online pinboard and social network for collating and sharing links.

It hears from Emily Steel, a social media editor at the Wall Street Journal, Carla Buzasi, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post UK and Janet Aronica, head of marketing for Shareaholic.

You can hear future podcasts by signing up to the Journalism.co.uk iTunes podcast feed.

• #jpod in depth: Huffington Post lands in the UK
• Huffington Post UK’s Facebook app clocks up 20,000 users
• #followjourn @CarlaBuzasi – Carla Buzasi/editor-in-chief
• #jpod: How journalists and publishers can best use Foursquare
• #jpod: How Apple’s Newsstand is revolutionising the publishing industry

The Guardian’s Facebook app has been downloaded eight million times since it was launched six months ago, seeing around 40,000 downloads a day.

Speaking at the Guardian Changing Media Summit, Tanya Cordrey, director of digital development at Guardian News and Media, said the news outlet has been “blown away by the results”.

The “frictionless sharing” app works by readers opting in to share all articles they read with their Facebook friends, generating more traffic for the news site with “no editorial curation”.

She later explained that the Guardian has generated more money through ad revenue from the app than the news organisation spent on building it.

Six months ago months ago Google provided 40 per cent of the Guardian’s traffic. The launch of the Facebook app resulted in a “seismic shift” with social exceeding search as a driver on several occasions in February (see above photograph).

Cordrey predicted:

It’s only a matter of time until social overtakes search for the Guardian.

She said that the audience becomes more global everyday, providing “an amazing opportunity to learn about this new audience”.

It’s the audience we want to learn about rather than the platform [Facebook]

Readers are in “habitual grazing mode”, Cordrey said, traffic peaking in “the middle of the afternoon”.

Addressing those who believe the app has implications for privacy, Cordrey said “we are acutely aware of the critics” but readers are not being driven away or removing content they have read from their Facebook timeline.

“Once people have it, they use it,” Cordrey said, explaining “only a tiny percentage of people” have taken up the option of hiding their reading habits.

Earlier in the day Karla Geci, strategic partner development for Facebook said that it would be “just weird and awkward to read a whole article inside of Facebook”, saying Facebook’s role is enabling “distribution and discovery” rather than taking traffic away from publishers.

Asking herself if frictionless sharing “is creepy”, Geci said:

People are quite interested in being an influencer in their circles. Sharing what you are reading is something you did any way.

• Facebook: Guardian app has 3.9m monthly active users
• Hearsay, a non-Facebook way of social news sharing
• Guardian’s Facebook app delivering 1m extra hits a day
• ‘We wanted to make ourselves more Facebookey’, says Guardian
• Citizen journalism site Blottr launches Facebook app

The Huffington Post UK has clocked up 20,000 users of its Facebook app.

The social reader app was added to all pages of the UK site a fortnight ago.

It follows the launch of the Guardian and Independent’s Facebook apps, released in September.

The Huffington Post has opted for an Independent-style Facebook app, which sits within the Huffington Post UK site rather than encouraging readers to access stories within Facebook, as favoured by the Guardian.

Those who sign up for the app and agree to share some of their Facebook details will see their reading habits shared with their Facebook friends.

Carla Buzasi, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post UK told Journalism.co.uk that there is an option to opt out.

Every time you are on a story and you don’t want that to be shared there’s a delay and you can click and stop it sharing.

The Huffington Post, which launched a UK edition on 6 July, hopes that the app will increase traffic to the UK site, which reported 5.4 million unique views in January.

Buzasi said:

We’re obviously monitoring it quite carefully. It’s a little bit to early to say at the moment but Facebook does send us a significant amount of traffic already.

• Bloggers showing ‘plenty of interest’ in writing for HuffPo UK
• Huffington Post UK launches tool for greater debate around news stories
• News sites can now add a Facebook ‘send’ button
• Social predicted to overtake search as Guardian traffic driver
• Guardian’s Facebook app delivering 1m extra hits a day

1. A Guardian hotel? Publisher says it is ‘exploring options’

2. How to: use Facebook Subscribe as a journalist

3. Former NOTW web journalist launches newsgathering tool

4. Tool of the week for journalists: Press Pass, to search for journalists on Twitter

5. Campaign launched to ‘save the Freedom of Information Act’

6. Johnston Press in consultation with senior executives

7. Emap understood to be seeking new London HQ

8. Ofcom: BBC news report breached girl’s privacy

9. More details emerging about Sun on Sunday launch

10. John Witherow: ‘Marie Colvin was an extraordinary figure’

• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 5-9 March
• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 17-23 December
• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 17-23 September
• #jpod – Dying for the story: Citizen journalism and the Arab spring
• Ofcom: Galloway’s Press TV programmes in breach of code

Top 5 News is a website which lets you keep track on the top five stories on major UK news sites.

The a simple one-page site lists the top stories on the Guardian, BBC, Mail Online, the Sun, Telegraph, Independent and Financial Times.

Created by Benji Lanyado and Matt Andrews (who both work for the Guardian) and launched a couple of weeks ago as an “experiment”, Top 5 News is one that is worth bookmarking to keep tabs on popular news stories, plus potentially gain a few tips in what makes a good headline.

If you have a tip you would like to submit to us at Journalism.co.uk email us using this link– we will pay a fiver for the best ones published.

• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – how to get more pins on Pinterest
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – the Facebook + Journalists page
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – create newsletter tabs in Facebook
• Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – analysing delicious links
• #Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk – safety advice from women journalists on the frontline

1. Ten things every journalist should know in 2012

2. App of the week for journalists – iSaidWhat?

3. ‘What would you do if Kelvin MacKenzie called you a c***?’ and other memorable job interview questions

4. Daily Mail wins praise for Stephen Lawrence campaign

5. Tool of the week for journalists – The Interviewr

6. Daily Record in consultation with four senior executives

7. News outlets back online licensing body NewsRight

8. Opinions sought on Digital Copyright Exchange proposal

9. Amid protests, Hungary faces US pressure over media regulation

10. NUJ members at Newsquest Essex to ballot over pay

• #jpod: Debating online content copyright in the UK and US
• NUJ: More strife for Newsquest as four more NUJ centres vote to strike
• Newsquest South London: new four-day strike announced
• NUJ members ballot for strike at north-east Newsquest titles
• Newsquest staff to vote on strike action over ‘subbing hub’

1. Ten things every journalist should know in 2012

2. ‘Privacy is for paedos’: The Leveson inquiry so far, in quotes

3. Tool of the week for journalists – Rippla, for tracking the social ‘ripples’ of news stories

4. Q&A Sky News: 2011, an extraordinary year for news

5. Piers Morgan’s phone ‘hacked by Mirror colleague’

6. Tabloid Girl author explains ‘heightened reality’ tales

7. Dangerous assignment deaths ‘highest on record’

8. App of the week for journalists – iRig Recorder, for recording, trimming and sharing audio

9. Leveson inquiry: Piers Morgan denies hacking allegations

10. NoW whistleblower’s brother: Hacking was ‘routine’ at the Sun

• App of the week for journalists – iRig Recorder, for recording, trimming and sharing audio
• Leveson inquiry has cost £2m so far
• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 26 November-2 December
• Leveson inquiry releases witness statements
• Friday deadline for core participant status for next Leveson inquiry module

Click the above image to connect with Journalism.co.uk on Twitter

After putting together some lists of the top 10 Twitter news stories of 2011, the top 10 Facebook news stories of 2011 and Journalism.co.uk’s top 10 stories on Facebook in 2011, we’ve compiled a list of the most tweeted Journalism.co.uk news stories and blog posts of the year.

1. Journalists increasingly using social media as news source, finds study 1,250

2. BBC developing new iPhone app for field reporters 911

3. Ten ways journalists can use Google+ 881

4. Julian Assange wins Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism 720

5. Al Jazeera English hits US screens after New York cable deal 508

6. #ijf11: Lessons in data journalism from the New York Times 468

7. How the five journalists with the greatest online influence use social media 367

8. ‘Is there a better way of doing this?’: Johann Hari responds to plagiarism accusations 361

9. #su2011: New online open newsroom a hit for Swedish newspaper 356

10. News of the World to publish final edition this Sunday 318

Data was gathered using Searchmetrics.

• Journalism.co.uk’s top 10 stories on Facebook in 2011
• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 28 May-3 June
• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 30 July-5 August
• Top 10 Twitter news stories of 2011
• The 100 most influential news media Twitter accounts

Click the above image to connect with Journalism.co.uk on Facebook

After taking a look at the top 10 Facebook news stories of 2011 and the top 10 Twitter news stories of 2011, we’ve compiled a list of the most shared, liked and commented on Journalism.co.uk news stories and blog posts published in 2011.

1. Julian Assange wins Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism (5,268 likes, 1,523 shares, 768 comments)

2. Guardian predicts 1m installs of Facebook app in first month (613 likes, 85 shares, 95 comments)

3. BBC developing new iPhone app for field reporters (98 likes, 172 shares, 80 comments)

4. Daily Mail criticised over Amanda Knox guilty story (53 likes, 86 shares, 138 comments)

5. How to: become a roaming reporter (62 likes, 37 shares, 85 comments)

6. Al Jazeera English hits US screens after New York cable deal (75 likes, 60 shares, 33 comments)

7. ‘Is there a better way of doing this?’: Johann Hari responds to plagiarism accusations (12 likes, 47 shares, 88 comments)

8. Bahrain to sue Independent over ‘defamatory’ articles (99 likes, 31 shares, 2 comments)

9. #jpod: How journalists can best use Facebook pages (58 likes, 53 shares, 4 comments)

10. London riots: Five ways journalists used online tools (40 likes, 64 shares, 10 comments)

Data was gathered using Searchmetrics.

• Journalism.co.uk top 10 stories on Twitter in 2011
• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 24 June-1 July
• MediaGuardian: Independent editor to rule on Johann Hari plagiarism claims
• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 30 July-5 August
• Arabian Business: Al Jazeera English ‘signs first major US TV deal’

Tool of the week: Rippla

What is it? A tool that allows you to monitor the social media “ripples” of a news story

How is it of use to journalists? Rippla was launched last month as a tool that tracks how news and information reaches into people’s conversations on social media.

It may be interesting to find out that the story with the most “ripples” is currently the Mail Online’s Hilarious video shows cat stroking crying baby and sending him to sleep, followed by George Monbiot’s Guardian comment This bastardised libertarianism makes ‘freedom’ an instrument of oppression, But what is particularly helpful for journalists is the ripples tracker.

Ripples tracker allows you to enter the URL or a news story and see how many times it has been shared on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks and find out how many bit.ly click-throughs the post has received.

Rippla also offers news sites a widget than can be added (as embedded below), which displays the most socially shared news stories.

• Rippla, a site to monitor the social media ‘ripples’ of news stories, launches
• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 12-18 November
• Tool of the week for journalists – Buffer, for scheduling tweets
• Three ways to get a round-up of news shared by your contacts without checking Twitter
• The top 10 most-read stories on Journalism.co.uk, 17-23 December