Access Media Group

For the first time in the site’s almost-ten-year history, All About Vision served more than 200,000 unique visitors in one week, according to Google Analytics.

For the week ending November 14, the site served 200,516 unique visitors.  But that traffic record didn’t last long: The following week, Google Analytics documented 206,838 unique visitors.

What’s driving the increase? Comparing the two-week period to a similar period last month, traffic increases can be seen for just about all the site’s most-viewed articles. Standouts include topics like eye twitching (up 123%), pink eye (up 26%), LASIK cost (up 14%) and astigmatism (up 14%). The lone exception among high-traffic articles was that about color contact lenses; it dropped following a record-setting October.

All About Vision readers submit many questions about eye allergy symptoms, which editorial board member Brian Chou, OD, answers in this new feature.

Eye allergies have many causes, including dust and pollen exposure that can lead to allergic conjunctivitis.

Treatments include over-the-counter or prescription eye drops.

Four new All About Vision articles offer tips to contact lens wearers interested in materials, brands, special effects and other features.

With Halloween looming, theatrical contacts worn by Twilight movie series actors help create vampires with amber eyes.

New articles also provide insights about contact lens materials and how to select the right contacts.

An article about choosing contact lens brands helps readers understand different aspects of contacts.

All About Vision’s new Dry Eyes and LASIK article discusses what can be done to improve outcomes following vision correction surgery.

Dry eyes are so common that many LASIK candidates must be treated in advance of a procedure.

Also, a LASIK procedure sometimes can reduce sensitivity in the clear front of the eye (cornea) to cause dry eyes that usually are temporary.

Recommended remedies for dry eyes can include flaxseed oil and over-the-counter or prescription eye drops.

Looking at the past 60 days compared to a year earlier, visitors are using certain keywords more frequently to find our site:

• Pink eye, up 251%
• LASIK eye surgery cost, up 425%
• Polarized lenses, up 289%
• Floaters in the eye, up 237%
• Eye drops, up 304%

Views of a number of popular pages have also increased dramatically:

• LASIK & Vision Surgery Home Page, up 74%
• LASIK Cost, up 80%
• Blepharitis, up 180%
• Cataract surgery, up 54%
• Eye Vitamins & Nutrition Home Page, up 62%

During this period, the site generated more than 2.8 million unique page views.

Unique, non-paid visitors to All About Vision are up 26% for the first eight months of the year, compared to the same period in 2008.  The non-paid visitor count exludes traffic from search engine advertising and contextual ad programs administered by Google and Yahoo.

About 94% of the site’s traffic is non-paid, and comes from organic search engine results and links from eye doctors, optical retailers, media, corporations, governments, educational institutions and other entities.  During July and August, more than 8,000 websites sent visitors to All About Vision.

All About Vision is on track to serve more than 9,000,000 unique visitors in 2009, measured weekly by Google Analytics.

A new All About Vision article explains how the drug, Latisse, works to lengthen and thicken eyelashes for a cosmetic effect.

The drug used in Latisse ordinarily is a glaucoma treatment, which eye doctors learned produced the side effect of extra eyelash growth.

Other recently added content includes an overview of different types of eye infections, including common causes of pink eye.

A new article on color blind tests describes screenings that determine if patients have a color deficiency.

Ocular rosacea is another new topic that contains detailed explanations of causes and symptoms such as dry eyes.

Reader response to All About Vision’s popular ocular migraines article led to a new ocular migraine Q&A, featuring discussion by editorial board member Charles Slonim, MD.

Optometry Giving Sight and All About Vision have joined forces to promote consumer education about eye health and vision correction options, while raising money to alleviate functional blindness and fund sustainable eye care programs in developing nations.  Optometry Giving Sight is a global organization dedicated to the prevention of blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error.

As part of its outreach to eye care practices, Optometry Giving Sight is creating awareness of the opportunity for practices to link their websites to All About Vision, thereby referring patients to 500 pages of comprehensive, doctor-reviewed educational information covering all eye care topics.

Each time a practice or optical store links its website’s home page to All About Vision using a prescribed set of links or All About Vision’s site visitor counter, a $50 donation is made to Optometry Giving Sight.  The promotion began earlier this summer and runs through August 31.

A 2009 LASIK cost report commissioned by All About Vision from a leading industry analyst shows that procedure prices have remained about the same during the past several years.

The report is based on results of a survey of refractive surgeons conducted in the first quarter of 2009.

During the past year, more LASIK surgeons opted to quote a single price for a procedure rather than charging extra for technology such as wavefront-guided or bladeless LASIK.

Average prices charged to LASIK patients are about $2,140 per eye for all laser-based procedures, and $2,314 for custom LASIK.

Fused Kontacts, Inc., manufacturer of custom-designed Tangent Streak contact lenses for the correction of presbyopia, has chosen Access Media Group to redesign and update its Tangent Streak website.

The site includes consumer and eye care practitioner information on Tangent Streak No Line Multifocal, Segmented Bifocal and Segmented Trifocal. The practitioner section of the site contains an extensive collection of fitting and troubleshooting videos.