85239.com celebrates five years in Maricopa

Five years ago, inmaricopa.com made its debut, offering news and information about the newly incorporated city of Maricopa. The Web site, and 85239 The Magazine, has grown along with the area and on Friday night, inmaricopa.com celebrated its anniversary with a party to thank its advertisers for their business over the past five years.

Dozens of guests gathered at inmaricopa.com’s office for an evening of food, wine-tasting and prizes. Torri Anderson, the Maricopa liaison for Against Abuse Inc., took home the biggest door prize – a foursome of golf donated by The Duke at Rancho El Dorado.

Just like Maricopa and the surrounding area, inmaricopa.com has experienced rapid growth in the past five years. In its first full month in 2004, inmaricopa.com had 300 visitors and less than 5,000 page views. Today, the Web site averages just shy of 1 million page views and about 26,000 unique visitors each month.

Kelly Anderson, former mayor of Maricopa, said inmaricopa.com plays a vital role in keeping Maricopans in the know about local news and helping businesses draw in customers.

“To the people of Maricopa, specifically the ones who have just moved here, it’s a way to jump in real quick,” he said. “School issues, city issues, it’s a wealth of information across the board.

“It’s something for local businesses to use to be successful. It’s hard to get the word out. It’s hard enough being that new person in town, but you have to make that first step and find out ‘What’s the best advertising for my dollars?’ The site provides a lot of that.”

Photo by David Argabright