MISSION VIEJO, CA — It was a marine layer kind of morning in December 2010 when the Laguna Niguel-Dana Point Patch site went live, along with Patch city sites across Orange County towns. One of our first ever stories was a travel piece by a community member: Maui, Wowie! All These Home Boys Could Bring on a Tropical Depression. Now, eight years later Patch continues to grow and thrive, thanks to you, our readers. We've come a long way, and you're a big reason why. Our readers share some of our favorite stories, photos, leads and events.
In 2018 we launched the Orange County metro patch, and furthered our ability to tell stories about what matters most to you, not just in your community but in your county as a whole.
Patch strives to talk about good news, as well as news that hits at home. In 2018, we've shared local community stories that matter to you, including news on traffic, local police work and more. Still, even more of you love to hear what's going on at Disneyland for the holiday seasons!
This year new fans have begun following Mission Viejo Patch. In total, nearly 4,500 people follow us for news in their community on Facebook. Far more enjoy our free daily newsletter, news for you and breaking news alerts. Are you one of them? (haven't signed up? It's easy! just click here, and we'll hook you up!)
Our visitors live and work in Mission Viejo, for sure, but many residents of neighboring towns across Orange and Los Angeles County also land on Mission Viejo Patch from time to time, too.
Readers find us on desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile and our app, and our visitors often access Patch on several devices over the month. Our stories are read by soccer moms and baseball dads, we share stories on your local school districts, sports teams. This story, by a Ladera Ranch community member, about a little boy who wouldn't quit on the Ladera basketball courts of Team Nikos warmed our hearts.
Reader photos are always welcome, and if you are lucky, you may just see your photo shared statewide!
Most of all, we love our user generated content on Patch, too. Many non-profits, schools and community members share their stories and events, weekly. Want to join them? 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."
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.
Contests & Giveaways
By far, our calendar pages draw a great deal of reader attention. Nearly 20,000 of nearby Orange County residents have browsed our weekly calendar round ups to see what their neighbors are up to for the weekend in 2018. Are you one of them? We also host fun and amazing contests, including several Dana Point area family Whale Watching trips and, our favorite, free doughnut giveaways at The Doughnut Parlor.
Hosting contests is a great way to get in touch with your community, and if you are a business who wants to advertise or share with us, we'd love to have you. One of our sales reps will be in touch.
We always share fun, local real estate posts, weekly, from the drool-over worthy oceanfront homes to funky rental properties!
The Orange County Patches continue to grow, this year we've added the south county unincorporated city of Trabuco Canyon, and the metro site: Orange County to our coverage. Also in Orange County, find: Aliso Viejo, Fountain Valley, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel-Dana Point, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach-Corona Del Mar, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano.
Still, we are part of a much broader network, with nearly 100 Patches in the state of California and more than 1,200 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 Orange County Patches 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.
Got a news tip? I'm Ashley Ludwig, your local editor. Send your tips, ideas and questions my way at ashley.ludwig@patch.com
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Photo, courtesy Amy Spurgeon Hoffman for Patch
