Traffic Boom at CigarAficionado.com

Source from:  CigarAficionado.com 11/20/2008

The economy may be shrinking, but CigarAficionado.com is growing. The award-winning Web site from Cigar Aficionado magazine is having a banner year, with average monthly traffic up 28 percent over 2007 and monthly visits up 42 percent. More than 2.4 million people have visited the site so far this year, already exceeding the 2.1 million that came in all of 2007. The site has had 17.5 million page views this year, far more than the 14.7 million views in all of 2007. November has been one of the busiest months the site has seen in years: as of November 18, the site had already drawn 140,000 visitors for the month, with more than 1 million page views. Recent visitors have been particularly enamored with the Cigars of 2008 gallery, showcasing new products in cigar shops around the world, along with the extensive coverage of the recent Big Smoke in Las Vegas. The surge in recent traffic comes before Cigar Aficionado's biggest online draw of the year—the site will soon unveil the Top 25 Cigars of the Year in a dramatic online countdown. (Look for a countdown clock to be posted soon.) Last year, average weekly traffic doubled as the Top 25 were revealed to the world. CigarAficionado.com went online in 1996. The site is the virtual home to thousands of cigar smokers, who its forums to connect with fellow cigar smokers from across the globe. Updated daily with original editorial content, the site features exclusive videos, blogs from the globe-trotting editors of Cigar Aficionado magazine, reviews of cigar-friendly establishments, dedicated sections to Cuba, drinks and golf, as well as extensive coverage about the cigar world. CigarAficionado.com won the inaugural National Magazine Award for General Excellence in New Media in 1999. Enditem