Articles, photos, and videos documenting the life of faith of New Apostolic Christians around the world were viewed at least 38 million times over the past year. That is the assessment of nac.today’s first year. A look behind the scenes.
From 0 to about 2.8 million page views in twelve months … On 1 January 2015 the news portal of the New Apostolic Church was launched. But there is more to nac.today than just the website at this address. What the three-member editorial team produces makes its way to the brothers and sisters through a number of channels.
On all channels
The news magazine also has two sister sites: nak.org and nacworld.net. The first website features official announcements from the Church’s international leadership, and scored more than four million page views in 2015. The other site, nacworld.net, is a social network in which about 40,000 registered members interact and discuss their faith.
Content from nac.today not only automatically goes to members of nacworld but also to the devices of some 21,000 smartphone users via push notification. This is how often the newly overhauled nacnews app has been installed on mobile devices. The app is available for Android and iOS devices.
This being the age of social media, news of course also travels there where the most users are active: currently this is Facebook. The editorial team monitors half a dozen profiles and fan pages and, depending on the topic, posts comments in discussion groups.
More than can be tracked
Altogether these channels carrying news from around the New Apostolic world were viewed more than 38 million times last year. And these are only the views that can be directly tracked. There are still an additional ten thousand users of social networks who share in their personal timeline or groups. And then there are still dozens of Church websites or congregations that use the contents.
Much of the content also migrates from the web on to paper: this ranges from flyers used in the various church districts and congregations right to community, the international member magazine. The content is also used in the African Joy newsletter and in the Unsere Familie, the magazine for German-speaking members of the Church.
At home worldwide
The contents of nac.today is available in four languages. Topping the list are German-speaking users, who are followed by English, French and Spanish-speaking users. The analysis tool lists more than 200 countries of origin. Among the top ten are Germany, South Africa, France, Switzerland, the USA, Argentina, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, and Austria.
Almost a third of the visitors access the website directly, while another third follow links from other websites such as nak.org—the website of the international Church leadership—Church critical blogs and forums. Almost a fifth find their way to nac.today via social networks—mostly Facebook—and the rest via search engines—Google being the most popular.
The top story
nac.today started out with 130 articles, image galleries, or videos—a kind of archive of important events of the past years. Since then 318 new items have been added. Among the top ten—traditionally—is the coverage of Pentecost: especially the Pentecost service in Zambia, but also the report about a very enthusiastic musician.
Among the top three was also an innovation: the video address of the Chief Apostle on New Year 2015. Very popular were also South African topics such as the appointment of a new District Apostle Helper. In demand were also statements from the Chief Apostle on such issues as refugee aid or xenophobia.
Topping the list is the video on the Chief Apostle’s reaction to the Paris terror attacks in November 2015: 404,000 users saw this video.