More than 1,000 Facebook users have added All About Vision to their “Likes and Interests” since AAV’s Facebook page went live about 10 weeks ago.

Each time a new article or news item is added to All About Vision, a message is posted to All About Vision’s Facebook page. By following All About Vision on Facebook, eye care professionals can keep abreast of what their patients may be reading. It’s also a way for eye care professionals to receive a regular stream of interesting topics to use in their own patient-directed social media efforts.

While many of All About Vision’s fans are affiliated with the eye care professions and related industries, consumers with special eye care interests or needs are also connecting with All About Vision through Facebook.

For the first five months of 2010, unique visitors to All About Vision from non-paid sources grew 41%, compared with the same period last year.

Non-paid traffic comprises three areas:

• Visitors who click on natural or “organic” search engine results.
• Traffic from referring websites, such as eye care practice or media outlet sites.
• Direct navigation — people who type allaboutvision.com into their browser.

In May, 98% of the site’s traffic was non-paid.  All About Vision has served more than 5.3 million unique visitors, measured weekly by Google Analytics, in the first five months of 2010.

All About Vision has added two new articles to its Sports Vision section. Sports Vision Tests and Training describes the tests that sports vision doctors use to determine how well an athlete’s eyes are performing on the field. The article also discusses how these tests can help athletes train for their sport.

Sports Vision Skills covers eye dominance, peripheral awareness and other vision skills that are important for good athletic performance. This article also offers tips on improving these visual skills at home.

Each content page of All About Vision now includes a tool to allow visitors to easily share information via Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Google Buzz and Yahoo! Buzz.  The icons for those sites are featured prominently under the 300×250 ad in the upper-right corner of each article.

The ability to email a page is still available to visitors, and currently generates more than 500 emails each month.

In response to visitor feedback, font-size controls and the print button have been relocated to the page header, for greater visibility.

A new All About Vision article, Punctal Plugs for Dry Eyes describes a specific treatment option for dry eyes. The article provides information on how the procedure is performed, types of punctal plugs, side effects, and removal of the tear duct plugs, as well as their use for delivering medication.

Through the first ten weeks of 2010, All About Vision’s unique visitors were up 35% compared to the previous year.  Traffic in the United Kingdom and Australia increased 87% and 78% respectively and together now account for 8% of all visitors to the site.  North American visitors still account for 82% of overall traffic.

Of the ten most visited pages on the site, several had substantial traffic increases.  Page views of the main page for LASIK & Vision Surgery were up 58%, while the LASIK cost article was up 56%.  Conjunctivitis was up 53%, and the eyelid twitching article broke into the top ten with a 289% increase in page views.

A new All About Vision article, Contact Lenses for Dry Eyes, provides advice on the most common source of contact lens discomfort. The article discusses water content, silicone hydrogel lenses and other soft lens brands favored by some doctors for dryness relief, as well as alternative strategies involving care products.

EyeXam, a popular new iPhone app from Global Eye Ventures, is sending thousands of visitors to All About Vision.

Developed by Dr. Nikki Iravani and Dr. Brian Chou, EyeXam helps users to evaluate their vision and includes tests for color perception, astigmatism, and eye dominance. It also enables users to link to All About Vision for information on eye anatomy.

EyeXam is free and has been available at the iTunes store for two weeks. It’s currently being downloaded about 3,000 times each day.

The GP Lens Institute (GPLI), the educational arm of the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association, has partnered with All About Vision to cross-promote eye care practitioner (ECP) locators.

GPLI’s locator is available to consumers on the Institute’s recently re-launched public information website, ContactLenses.org.  More than 1,500 eye care professionals who fit GP lenses are listed in the locator, including contact information and practice website links.  Listings also specify when an eye care professional specializes in multifocals, corneal reshaping or irregular corneas.

The All About Vision locator lists eye doctors and optical retailers whose websites link to the site’s more than 500 pages of consumer education.  Special recognition is available to listed practices that are regular contributors to Optometry Giving Sight.

Listings in both locators are free of charge to ECPs. The two organizations will promote site linking and listings to currently listed practices as well as new registrants.

All About Vision has upgraded its sponsorship of Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) to a U.S. National Silver Sponsorship. Last year, AAV’s first year of sponsorship, was at the “Supporter” level.

The arrangement for 2010 includes a cash contribution to OGS and a collaborative effort to create more awareness among U.S. eye care practices of both organizations.

At various state, regional and national meetings it attends, OGS will be encouraging eye doctors to educate their patients about eye health and vision correction by linking to All About Vision.  During two promotional periods this year, a donation to OGS will be made whenever a practice implements links.

Practices who are regular OGS donors also receives special recognition in AAV’s Eye Care Practitioner Directory.

Optometry Giving Sight, based in Sydney, Australia, is the only global fundraising initiative targeting people who are functionally blind or vision impaired simply because they do not have access to an eye examination and a pair of glasses.