Salem Patch Readers: Thanks For Helping Us Grow

SALEM, NH -- More than 30,000 visitors turned to Salem Patch for local news last month. Thank you for taking time in your busy days to spend a few moments with Patch. We appreciate your visits and contributions, and we want you to know we take nothing for granted here. Thank you for helping us to grow and thrive this year.

Salem Patch launched in 2011. We've come a long way, and you're a big reason why.

In August, Salem Patch recorded 31,352 visitors. For a town of 28,888 people, that's a lot of readers! Our visitors hail from Salem, for sure, but many residents of neighboring towns also land on Salem Patch from time to time, too. That figure -- compiled and verified through Google Analytics -- includes readers on desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile and our app, and our visitors often access Patch on several devices over the month.

Here are 10 of the most-read articles on Salem Patch in August:

• Salem Police Ask Public's Help ID'ing Suspects
• Salem Pizza Driver's Tip Led To Dead Body Discovery: Report
• Salem Police Dog Nabs Shoplifter With $3,500 Gold Chain: Cops
• Salem National Night Out
• $950K Salem Home On Arlington Pond Just Listed
• NH Schools Should Start After Labor Day, Governor Says
• Salem Police: Heroin, Crack, Gun Seized; Woman Arrested
• Salem High School Ranked Among Best In State
• Market Basket Makes Major Change After NH Governor's Tip
• NH Woman Fights Off Bear That Broke Into Her Home

Got a news tip? I'm Jason Claffey, your local editor. After graduating from Boston University, I joined Patch in 2011 to launch Exeter Patch, one of 12 Patches in New Hampshire. Patch chose to expand to the Granite State to cover the 2012 New Hampshire primary and presidential election.

When the election was over, we turned our attention to local news -- including a devastating hepatitis C outbreak at Exeter Hospital. Looking back, that tragedy was an early warning for New Hampshire's current opioid crisis -- one of the most important issues Patch is covering today.

If you have an issue you think Salem Patch should cover or simply want to reach out, contact us at salem-nh@patch.com.

Our readers also love Salem Patch's calendar of events — more than 1,000 visits were made to our calendar in August. Coming up soon on the calendar? Fourteen New Hampshire museums will offer free admission Saturday for Museum Day 2018.

If you would like to post on Salem Patch, too, you may easily to sign up for a free user profile. As a Patch user, you can post articles, events, jobs, and announcements. And the "rules of Patch" are easy to follow: "no abusive content, no commercial spam, keep it local, and be awesome."

What else is new? More than 5,000 people follow the Salem Patch Facebook page and nearly 1,000 have signed up for our email newsletters and breaking news alerts.

If you own a local business and are interested in getting your message on Salem Patch or our nearby Patches, please visit the page and tell us what you need. One of our sales reps will be in touch.

Here's another fun fact about Patch: Did you know that Patch is among the 100 most trafficked websites in the United States? Patch ranks 91st on the most viewed websites in the country, according to Alexa. There are more than 1,200 Patches across the United States. That's a lot of local news!

Many news websites are limiting access to free articles, but Patch articles and events by our journalists and our users are always free to view.

We're thrilled you've made Salem Patch a part of your life. Thank you so much for your support and readership.

Try The Patch App

We've taken the best of Patch and packed it into a lightning fast, super-clean app that is loaded with features users have told us they want. If you haven't tried the app, give it a try. You can get the latest local news sent straight to your iPhone or iPad home screen on the free Patch app for iOS or the Android app.

Photo: Hot air balloons at Millville Lake in Salem. (Credit: Samantha Arcidiacono)