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South Africa’s Top Websites in 2011

I am always interested in how South Africans use the internet. Last year I wrote an article on the Top 20 Websites in 2010 and we found that South Africans were primarily interested (in general) in information, entertainment and money.

This year a few interesting developments may provide interesting insight into internet usage in South Africa.

Increased YouTube Interest

YouTube has moved up the ranks to fourth place showing an increased interest in video content on the internet.

I have especially noticed that the younger Generation Y see youtube as an integral way of learning and keeping in touch with whats popular. I also remember a conversation with a young Gen Y who shared the embarrassment she felt when she had not seen the YouTube Video that all her friends were talking about.

I believe that this interest in video content is something worth looking into as we try to communicate effectively online with South African consumers.

Business Networking sees growth

Last year, Linkedin didn’t make it onto the Top 20 Websites. This was almost the expected result as many people I had spoken to had never heard of Linkedin.

Business networking is taking off at a seriously fast pace with Linkedin now claiming the 12th position. I did some research on South Africa’s Linkedin Usership in 2010 and found about 600 000 business professionals using the business in South Africa. Say in touch with this blog as we will release the 2011 Linkedin stats soon.

2011 also see’s many companies beginning to use Linkedin as a recruitment tool. A top finance firm recently invested into Linkedin Recruitment and have already (within 3 months) received a 200% return on investment.

As social media technology becomes more mainstream we have started to see more businesses looking into harnessing this power to build its own Social Business network.

Amazon increases in South African Traffic

As the tablet market booms in South Africa I believe we will see more interest in Amazon as it has done a great job in making sure it is included on the Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and now kindle is also available on most computers. We cannot forget at this point that Amazon’s primary tool for accessing e-books is it’s own e-book reader – the kindle.

This, coupled with bar code scanner applications, could see the demise of many book stores. As it is now possible to scan a book ISBN number on my phone, search the internet for that ISBN and buy the book off amazon and have it downloaded to my kindle in less than 5mins. It would take me longer to buy the book from the cashier.

For all those interested, here is the full list of the Top 20 websites in South Africa for 2011:

1) Google South Africa
2) Facebook
3) Google
4) Youtube
5) Yahoo
6) Wikipedia
7) Twitter
8) News24
9) Blogger
10) Gumtree
11) Linkedin
12) Standard Bank
13) FNB
14) Windows Live
15) ABSA
16) WordPress
17) IOL
18) Amazon
19) MSN
20) Microsoft Corporation

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