Comments on: Four trends in newspaper website navigation design http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/ Will Sullivan's guide to mobile, tablet & emerging tech ideas Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:59:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: seth gitner http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/comment-page-1/#comment-27143 seth gitner Thu, 23 Aug 2007 02:08:54 +0000 http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/2007/08/19/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/#comment-27143 will -- you miss out on so many cool interactive ads by using adblock. I think if newspapers had a clue about grabbing the attention of their users they should start following in the footsteps of their advertisers who are using interactive ads to promo their content on their own site -- when i go to usatoday I am more compelled to play the orbitz golf ad than see the news content. I think advertisers are recognizing this and playing to this with smart marketing. now if only newspapers could recognize this and market their products on other sites . . . "if you build they will come" is not the answer sg will —

you miss out on so many cool interactive ads by using adblock. I think if newspapers had a clue about grabbing the attention of their users they should start following in the footsteps of their advertisers who are using interactive ads to promo their content on their own site — when i go to usatoday I am more compelled to play the orbitz golf ad than see the news content.

I think advertisers are recognizing this and playing to this with smart marketing. now if only newspapers could recognize this and market their products on other sites . . . “if you build they will come” is not the answer

sg

]]> By: Pat Thornton http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/comment-page-1/#comment-27142 Pat Thornton Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:23:21 +0000 http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/2007/08/19/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/#comment-27142 Search is the future. If you just want to discover cool parts of a site, the best way to do it is through search. You can search for what interests you. The problem with this, of course, is that search engines on sites are soorly lacking. But with the right technology a person can search for keywords, authors, types of content (stories, photos, videos, databases, etc) and sections of a site. I've had the concept for what I call "dynamic search" for several years. If a journalism site properly employed this technology they could go with a simplier top navigation. The problem that most journalism sites suffer from is the wall of information. There is so much content that it turns away users, which is why Drudge is so popular. It's just easier to use. Get rid of that wall, tag everything and make your search hyperpowerful. And get rid of all those worthless links in your navigation. Only core sections should be part of your main navigation. Search is the future. If you just want to discover cool parts of a site, the best way to do it is through search. You can search for what interests you.

The problem with this, of course, is that search engines on sites are soorly lacking. But with the right technology a person can search for keywords, authors, types of content (stories, photos, videos, databases, etc) and sections of a site.

I’ve had the concept for what I call “dynamic search” for several years. If a journalism site properly employed this technology they could go with a simplier top navigation.

The problem that most journalism sites suffer from is the wall of information. There is so much content that it turns away users, which is why Drudge is so popular. It’s just easier to use.

Get rid of that wall, tag everything and make your search hyperpowerful. And get rid of all those worthless links in your navigation. Only core sections should be part of your main navigation.

]]> By: Patrick Beeson http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/comment-page-1/#comment-27141 Patrick Beeson Wed, 22 Aug 2007 13:17:17 +0000 http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/2007/08/19/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/#comment-27141 Wow. I just noticed how entirely unusable the site-map navigation is on Ohio.com. Sometimes it stays up on rollover, sometimes it doesn't. I guess someone forgot to test in that browser. Wow. I just noticed how entirely unusable the site-map navigation is on Ohio.com. Sometimes it stays up on rollover, sometimes it doesn’t.

I guess someone forgot to test in that browser.

]]> By: Patrick Beeson http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/comment-page-1/#comment-27140 Patrick Beeson Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:21:31 +0000 http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/2007/08/19/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/#comment-27140 Like Howard, I too am seeing an increasing trend in visitors coming to larger sites through avenues other than the home page. Even more endangered are section pages, which can sometimes have as little as 2 percent of a sites' total traffic. Being a Scrippsie, I'm all for the simple horizontal navs of <a href="http://knoxnews.com" rel="nofollow">knoxnews</a> and our other Ellington-flavored sites. It's easy to see at quick glance the general layout for stories. The sitemap nav concept is also interesting -- I've been a fan of the sacbee design for quite some time -- though I can see this can be really bad in terms of SEO/code architecture. View the source of tampabay.com and you can see what I mean. Also, what happens when sites start focusing on information rather than stories? What happens when we throw folksonomic tagging into the mix? Like Howard, I too am seeing an increasing trend in visitors coming to larger sites through avenues other than the home page. Even more endangered are section pages, which can sometimes have as little as 2 percent of a sites’ total traffic.

Being a Scrippsie, I’m all for the simple horizontal navs of knoxnews and our other Ellington-flavored sites. It’s easy to see at quick glance the general layout for stories.

The sitemap nav concept is also interesting — I’ve been a fan of the sacbee design for quite some time — though I can see this can be really bad in terms of SEO/code architecture. View the source of tampabay.com and you can see what I mean.

Also, what happens when sites start focusing on information rather than stories? What happens when we throw folksonomic tagging into the mix?

]]> By: Will Sullivan http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/comment-page-1/#comment-27139 Will Sullivan Tue, 21 Aug 2007 03:00:40 +0000 http://www.journerdism.com/index.php/2007/08/19/four-trends-in-newspaper-website-navigation-design/#comment-27139 Hey Jason, Thanks for reading and commenting. I definitely agree with your assessment on the second-tier roll over bars. I think this is partially what Howard was talking about with poor implementation. I've seen some of those dual roll over's that are so sensitive it's like walking on a tightrope with your mouse to get to the far right options. :) Cheers Will Hey Jason,
Thanks for reading and commenting.

I definitely agree with your assessment on the second-tier roll over bars. I think this is partially what Howard was talking about with poor implementation. I’ve seen some of those dual roll over’s that are so sensitive it’s like walking on a tightrope with your mouse to get to the far right options. :)

Cheers
Will

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