Mark C spotted an honourable mention (here) in a recent mybroadband investigation into South Africa’s biggest websites. It certainly made for interesting reading and something perhaps YOU should read as you navigate this ever-changing SA media landscape.

It was noted :

SA’s biggest websites and blogs

South Africa is currently experiencing strong broadband adoption and Internet usage growth – something which was expected many years ago but was hampered by government interference and a monopolistic fixed line environment.

According to a recent research report by World Wide Works South, Africa’s Internet population is expected to grow as much in the next five years as it has in the 15 years since the Internet became commercially available in South Africa.

The research also shows that the number of Internet users in South Africa grew by 12.5% to 4,6-million in 2008 – the first time since 2001 it has grown by more than 8%. The increased growth rate is expected to continue for the next five years, taking the Internet user population to the 9 million mark.

This strong growth in Internet adoption means that there is a new wave of users who are getting their news online and are using the Internet for communication, ecommerce and social networking. This begs the question as to which websites are the most popular among South Africa.

According to Alexa, which measures the popularity of websites, Google is the most popular website among South Africans. Facebook is second while Yahoo completes the top three. The rest of the Top 10 is YouTube, WikiPedia, Blogger.com, News24, Microsoft Network, Gumtree and Windows Live.

When it comes to local websites News24 remains by far the most popular online destination in South Africa. According to the latest Nielsen Online Ranking Report – which ranks local websites according to unique monthly visitors – IOL was second, followed closely by MSN (nice one, Ad).

Biggest local blogs
When it comes to local blogs audited statistics like the Nielsen Online Ranking Report is not available, but South African blogging aggregator Amatomu gives a good indication of which blogs are the most popular.

According to Amatomu, Keo.co.za, the leading rugby blog in South Africa, is the most popular local blog. The second most popular blog is another ruby blog Rugbydump while Charl Norman’s Carblog completes the top three. The Top 10 is completed by Coke Zero Fest 2009, Thought Leader, The Times Planet Blog, Times Multimedia, Adii Freelancer & Business Strategist, 2OceansVibe and MSFT.NET Blogs (ZA).

More advertising spend
The strong growth in online readership and the increasing popularity of local websites translated in accelerating online advertising spend. According to World Wide Worx online advertising in South Africa grew at the fastest rate of all countries in the English-language world in 2008, and is likely to repeat this performance in 2009.

[more here]

Personally (as was reiterated by Chris Mills at iMod) I feel that Afrigator is at the forefront of the blog aggregation standards game for South Africa.

But, that aside; there seems to be more recognition with regards to South African blogs being an accepted serious form of media – more fine tuned to genuinely deliver to the consumer. Something that the 35 year old white female media buyers out there should consider, as they continue to drop hundreds and thousands of Rands on double page spreads and worthless radio ads.

It’s amazing how much more you can get for your buck, when you compare blog exposure to a 30 second R10,000 radio ad. Exact Google stats confirming your audience are one thing, but does that R10,000 you spent on the radio ad (which is gone once it’s aired. Gone – forever) have any added value, like a strong Google ranking?

No, it doesn’t.

Blogs of all shapes and sizes are coming to the forefront and it’s only the finger-on-the-pulse brands out there who are maximising the very obvious advantages of talking to an audience who believe what they’re reading.

In an economic climate such as this, how long can you afford to blow money on wasted “traditional media?”

More people I know talk about things they’ve seen and heard about on local and international blogs, than any other medium.

How long must that carry on, before it becomes “traditional?”

[email editor@2oceansvibe.com for a rate card and stats]