Top Democrats Strong in Site Traffic from Early Primary States

People in early caucus and primary states were more likely to visit Web sites for Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama than average Web users.

ClickZ_Campaign08_katefinal.jpgEarly caucus and primary state voters were more likely to visit Web sites for Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama than average Web users recently. Data from Hitwise also shows increasingly popular Republican Mike Huckabee has edged past longtime Republican site traffic frontrunner Ron Paul in the horserace during the week ending December 8.

During November and early December, residents of the earliest caucus state, Iowa, were eight times more likely to visit Illinois Senator Obama’s site than the average Internet user, according to the Web measurement firm. His site also appears to be popular with New Hampshire and South Carolina voters, who were nearly seven times more likely to check it out.

People in the Hawkeye state were also eight times more likely to visit North Carolina Senator Edwards’ site, seven times more likely to view the site of New York Senator Clinton, and about three times as likely to visit Delaware Senator Joe Biden’s site. New Hampshire and Michigan users were also more apt to go to the former first lady’s site — five times and three times more, respectively.

Residents of the country’s first primary state, New Hampshire, were six times more likely to land on JohnEdwards.com, and Michiganders were twice as likely to visit the site than the average Web user. New Hampshirites were nearly three times more apt to view Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s Web site, and Nevada voters were about twice as likely to check out Biden’s Web site.

Those in early voting states were less likely overall to visit Republican presidential campaign sites. South Carolina residents were six times more apt to view former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson’s site, and Iowans were almost three times as likely to do so. People in New Hampshire were three times as likely to go to Rudy Giuliani’s site than average users, and Floridians were twice as likely. Iowa voters were three times as apt to go to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s Web site, five times more likely to visit Congressman Ron Paul’s and twice as likely to go to ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s Web site.

Romney fared better with folks from his neck of the woods, though. New Hampshire voters were almost four times as likely to go to his site, and twice as likely to visit Paul’s. People in Nevada were three times more attracted to MittRomney.com. For ClickZ News, Hitwise measured the site visitation likelihood by state for the top 10 most trafficked presidential campaign sites in the week ending December 8.

Reflecting his surge in the polls among Republican voters, Huckabee’s Web site has undergone a dramatic increase in traffic in just a few months, garnering 16 percent of traffic to all candidate sites last month, up from around 6 percent in September. In the week ending December 8, the candidate’s site overtook longtime Republican site traffic leader RonPaul2008.com by a hair, grabbing 24 percent of traffic to all sites compared to Paul’s 23 percent.

Since April, Hitwise data shows traffic to candidate Web sites fluctuated. On average, Obama’s site came out on top of all candidate sites, with Clinton’s in second place. Traffic to Paul’s Web home ranked at a close third.

Site traffic also varied in terms of when each of the top presidential sites peaked. While Clinton’s and Edwards’s traffic was highest in January, more visitors went to sites for Giuliani, Romney and Senator John McCain during the spring months than other times. Traffic dropped off for all candidate sites during the typically low-traffic summer months.

September, when Thompson officially threw his hat into the ring, also marked the candidate’s highest Web traffic month. Counting full months, Paul and Huckabee reached their site traffic summits in November.

Democratic Candidates’ Site Traffic
Market Share and Rankings
Top 5
November Market Share Ranking Campaign Web site Traffic Market Share
1. Obama for America www.barackobama.com 29.66%
2. Hillary Clinton For President www.hillaryclinton.com 26.05%
3. John Edwards For President www.johnedwards.com 17.35%
4. Dennis Kucinich 2008 www.kucinich.us 10.15%
5. Joe Biden for President www.joebiden.com 7.82%
Source: Hitwise, 2007

Top Sites Driving Traffic
to www.BarackObama.com
in November
Web site URL Upstream Share
Google www.google.com 26.18%
Yahoo Search search.yahoo.com 6.25%
Google News news.google.com.com 1.76%
Wikipedia www.wikipedia.org 1.43%
Yahoo www.yahoo.com 1.37%
Source: Hitwise, 2007

Republican Candidates’ Site Traffic
Market Share and Rankings for November
Top 5
November Market Share Ranking Campaign Web site Market Share
1 Ron Paul 2008 www.ronpaul2008.com 43.9%
2 Mike Huckabee www.mikehuckabee.com 26.11%
3 Fred ’08 www.fred08.com 7.59%
4 Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee www.joinrudy2008.com 6.8%
5 Mitt Romney www.mittromney.com 6%
Source: Hitwise, 2007

Top Sites Driving Traffic
to www.RonPaul2008.com in November 2007
Web site URL Upstream Share
Google www.google.com 23.91%
Yahoo Search search.yahoo.com 4.66%
MSN www.msn.com 2.05%
CNN.com www.cnn.com 1.86%
Yahoo www.yahoo.com 1.7%
Source: Hitwise, 2007

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