The Independent’s focus on building its web operation continues to pay off, with traffic up by more than 6% last month.

Evgeny Lebedev, who shut the print editions of the Independent in March, will be cheered by the progress, with the website boosting daily unique browsers by 6.54% month on month to 3,284,608.

Across March and April the Independent has seen its traffic rise by 12.4%, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures published on Thursday.

The Guardian also performed strongly boosting traffic by 5.38% to 9,296,081 in April, fuelled by news stories including the Panama Papers revelations.

Richard Desmond’s Express and Star were the other major movers in the national newspaper market.

Express.co.uk rose by 14.92% to 1,400,270 and Dailystar.co.uk grew by 8.83% to 768,589.

Web traffic: average daily browsers

Mail Online 14,039,907 (-2.44%)
theguardian.com 9,296,081 (+5.38%)
Mirror Group Nationals 4,565,253 (+2.47%)
Telegraph.co.uk 4,127,605 (-1.07%)
The Independent 3,284,608 (+6.54%)
The Sun 2,344,426 (+3.96%)
Express.co.uk 1,400,270 (+14.92%)
Metro 1,192,826 (-0.14%)
Dailystar.co.uk 768,589 (8.83%)
Evening Standard 492,538 (-1.25%)