Page impressions for the Shropshire Star’s website have gone up by nearly 60 per cent in five months, official new figures show.

An ABC electronic count during the month of April recorded 1,630,103 page views for www.shropshirestar.com.

The total was up 59 per cent on the previous audit of the site, carried out in November 2007, which counted 1,025,979.

Year on year, the site has seen growth with page impressions up 103 per cent on an ABCe audit carried out in April 2007.

The ABCe results come after a recent survey of Shropshire Star website visitors showed 22 per cent of users considered the site’s performance and appearance to be excellent while a further 61 per cent rated it good and above average.

Shropshire Star editor Sarah-Jane Smith said: “The ABCe audit and the recent survey findings are pleasing.

“They appear to show that people are visiting the website in greater numbers and actually enjoying the experience.

“The internet team will continue to work hard to introduce new features, such as the weekly podcast, to enhance the website and to complement what is offered in print.”

Assistant editor Carl Jones has begun to broadcast a regular podcast which acts as an online weekend supplement to the paper.

Meanwhile MNA Digital, the online arm of Shropshire Star’s publisher the Midland News Association, has worked with jobs specialist Matchworks to provide an improved recruitment offering, with a web-only option for advertisers and a CV matching service.