Looking back on the most-read online stories of 2014, news led the way. Of the 25 stories on last year's list, 12 of them are what we'd call "hard news."
There are also seven "oddity" stories, four human-interest pieces and two business stories. They range from the sublime (How the medical system failed Saanich woman Julia Wolf) to the surreal (Victoria owner ‘head-over-heels happy’ with $213,000 chromed Ferrari) and everything in between.
There's even one that isn't even true (Mayors of Oak Bay and Saanich want University of Victoria renamed).
The overall pageview champ this year was the tale of a serval cat spotted running loose in Sooke and its ultimate demise (Exotic cat spotted trotting down street in Sooke). The original story and its followup easily outpaced any other story last year and created the single biggest traffic day on timescolonist.com.
If you're wondering about last year's readership champs (It's not hard to make a substitute for soy sauce and Ask Eric: Is it safe to eat imported basa fish?) from food writer Eric Akis, they are still ever-present. They weren't counted among the 2014 stories to allow for a more accurate reflection of the stories that resonated with our online readers. Likewise, we occasionally get an anomaly of a story from the wires that pops up on the most-read lists for no particular reason. They were also weeded out.
Here are the most-read stories of 2014, with the writer's name in parenthesis.
Top 25 stories of 2014
- Exotic cat spotted trotting down street in Sooke * (Katie DeRosa)
- Victoria father welcomes healthy Baby Iver, says goodbye to wife * (Louise Dickson)
- No tipping allowed at new Parksville restaurant * (Andrew Duffy)
- Man killed by Victoria police; officer hurt * (Sarah Petrescu)
- Sooke woman hounded by group of men who blocked her car (Katie DeRosa)
- Victoria owner ‘head-over-heels happy’ with $213,000 chromed Ferrari (Pedro Arrais)
- Groom whisked away from Saltspring Island wedding to jail (Louise Dickson)
- A constable’s advice: 10 things you shouldn’t do at road checks (Carla Wilson)
- Saanich family doctor can’t give away his practice (Cindy E. Harnett)
- Woman killed in single-car crash at Blanshard and Bay streets (staff)
- Mayors of Oak Bay and Saanich want University of Victoria renamed (Bill Cleverley)
- Victoria man, 21, charged with manslaughter in baby’s death (Sandra McCulloch)
- Woman sexually assaulted on Galloping Goose trail in Langford (Katie DeRosa)
- Suspected card scam may have hit thousands in Victoria (Andrew Duffy)
- Mexico twice boots Island man cleared of 299 km/h ride (Katie DeRosa)
- 16-day-old baby girl mauled by family dog in Saanich (Richard Watts)
- Mother fed glass to baby so she could sue food firm, court told (Louise Dickson)
- Baby Makes Six: Child finally weaned after four years (Cindy MacDougall)
- How the medical system failed Saanich woman Julia Wolf (Jack Knox)
- Woman breaks free from attempted abduction in Nanaimo (Sarah Petrescu)
- Campbell River father hopes for return of daughter, 8 (Sian Thomson/Campbell River Courier Islander)
- Violent sex offender released from prison, plans to live in Nanaimo (Katie DeRosa)
- Vancouver Island-grown Kid Cannabis fuelled by irony (Michael D. Reid)
- Jian Ghomeshi and Car Talk’s Tom Magliozzi: A tale of two celebrities (Adrian Chamberlain)
- Oak Bay Beach Hotel owes $125M, forced into receivership (Carla Wilson)
[* indicates more than one story was counted to determine rank]
Here's a sample of some our 2014 stats:
- our biggest single day for visits was Dec. 15;
- 52% of our visitors are men, 48% are women;
- 66% of our visitors used a desktop computer; 21% used a mobile device; 13% used a tablet;
- among mobile devices, iPhone users led the way at 38%; iPads were second at 32%;
- 72% of our visits are within Canada; 22% from the U.S.; 1% from the U.K.; and
- the most searched term on our website is "obituaries."
