Author: Steve Outing
What is wrong with your website? There may be a lot.
Although the network has a fever in the past few years, online media continues to grow, people in this industry, there are still many places to learn, and now it is a wandering period.
I specially viewed the news website for this reason, I still found a lot of space for improvement and experiment, and some online content quality experts, online application experts, online writing masters, also held the same view. Recently, I have asked several of them. Please advise the news website how to improve, that is, how to serve customers, so that it grows into an independent business.
The following brings some ideas they think that the best, maybe help your website, or let you know those problems can be given priority. I have some opinions that are also incorporated.
Don't work home
Information Constructors and Network Application Expert Keith Instone Suggestions: "Don't worry about your home page." Why do you do this? Because the home page allows the website to edit the focus, but ignore the "inner page". Instone said that the focus is placed on the bottom page with a week of time, and it must benefit much, and then analyze those places should improve.
Instone said: "These pages, every page is not so important, but add together, the gains are big."
Especially in the design, you can see how the internal page is guided by the page, which may be the space of editing and marketing personnel to improve, can guide the reader correctly, after leaving the web, still transfer to the website Another page.
Take away the dead wood
INSTONE another sentence: When the next time you redesign the website, remember to take some things. The website continues to join the new pattern, the result is more and more fat, but it can be very simple recorded from the web page, find out the content that is not very attractive, then take it off. INSTONE said: "I am gambling like this new version of the new website to have a good version."
The website will not stop add new pattern, so at least, at each additional new project, you should take some things, don't do this, your site will become fat, readers are not allowed to choose One.
This phenomenon is particularly remarkable on the homepage, there are hundreds of news websites. Many network use experts say that this is overloaded (randing a few examples: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CNN, etc. Website is all). Fat home, in the news website is indeed universal.
This is not to say that it must be simply simply simple, but the news website can stand "dieting".
Compared with major news websites, I found that msnbc.com was not so scary, you might sure that MSNBC is the reaction of his parent TV, the newspaper website reacts its parent newspaper, but look at BBC News, the mother is a broadcaster, website It is still obese.
They want to connect immediately
Reconside the way others join. There are now more and more links, not in the text, and concentrate in the other box of the other box, or concentrated on the lower right corner of the column document (for example, the New York Times is doing this, concentrating all the contributions in the paper) After that, the problem is that such a method is to cause obstacles to the reader. (For example, a document is talking about a website, you want to go in and see, but you can't go directly in the public, but you have to do more procedures.)
Online writing experts, also Hot Tex: Web Writing That Works author Lisa PRICE is "Respecting the link function", which makes people jump more unnecessary circles, which is not to respect the value. She said that even the content of your content is added, so the link is also your content, don't treat the link as a competitor, but it should be considered to increase quality helper. PRICE also suggests that if the document is connected to the database, the temporary open database allows the reader to connect, even if the database is charged, it should be free. Many websites connect the name to his diagram, such as a reporter name, maybe Mailto: Go to his format, which is extremely common in the news site. But well-known network use expert Jakob Nielsen said, from the application surface of the website, this is a bad example. He said: "Readers expect to choose to get information with the names." Take the formation with the name, only increasing the confusion of the reader, with the author's name, should be the authors of the author, or related materials such as the author's other works .
Places and statistics
The newspaper website, the emulation material is narrative with a large number of words, while less drawing. An Australian website consultant, the trainer of the media staff, said that this is not wrong, but it is necessary to recognize the reading of the paper and the reading type on the Internet.
She suggested that the information in the document is taken out, because the dull data and number words are particularly difficult to read on the computer screen, preferably in the picture mode of visual display, such a job network is more printed. The drawing is of course important in printing published, but it is more important to publish online.
Another suggestion of YVETTE NIELSEN is that the addition of the application before each document (of course, it means a manuscript, which is not a newsletter), this is the general lack of news websites. Nielsen said that the summary is necessary, because it can cause readers to pay attention to read the full text. Online readers are fast, and they must grab their hearts as much as possible.
Less
This is the last, most interesting advice, from the webword.com owner john rhodes. He said, check your website and see if there is too dazzling, but may harass the readers. He suggested looking for some people to see your website, find any place to harass, return to you, first let them write the position of harassment, and thus score the extent to harassment.
With this approach, you may find negative and need to remove items on the website, at least to improve the harassment readers. Rhodes said that many websites need to be simplified, and the content of the disturbance is to be used.
News site to repeat
English Original: News Sites Repeat Mistakes of The Past
Since 94, I have become a member of the online news, and I also report the movement of online news, join this line, teach people to be excited, and teach people to mourn.
Over the years, our industry has learned a lot, our experiment, re-experiment, and experiment, we tried different operating models. In the DOT-COM fanatic year, I have encountered a lot of smart and distinctive people, hard work, to create an economically viable new mass spread.
In these people, there is still a lot of mistakes in the same mistake, and the most obvious thing is ignored. Although the network has become popular, we are still struggling.
Record the fault we have committed
This year I participated in several online news conferences and similar activities, so that I am shocked, our industry still makes the same mistake, making new media that compete with newspapers, magazines, television, broadcast competition, more difficult .
In recent month, I participated in two important online news activities. The speakers, scholars, participants, and opinions in the two events were consistent: in the press, truly recognize the value of interaction, creating people who apply online services It's really too little. Let me say more specific:
The first mistake of committing: Our behavior is still like this online media, we still publish the old rules, one-way scattered we have thought of the information required for the public. Most of us still talk to the online audience, but did not talk to them.
Of course, most news websites have discussion districts, and publishing reporters' electronic information encourages readers to respond, each report can make readers to provide advice. This is the interaction that spent a few years, although it is very good, it is still not enough.
Online news headers have to observe more deeper, see how other online societies do. This is not difficult to find, look at Slashdot.org or the newly created Kuro5HIN, both of which are dominated by readers. Kuro5HIN is designed for the balance report for the press institution. Readers gather together to choose news topics, then commented, debate, like to dissolve the debate community into the news organization.
Kuro5hin founder Rusty Foster (he is a test designer, not a news practitioner), said in the University of Southern California: "Traditional media need this." He said that readers join online community, borrow online tools To construct and maintain online communities in various fields.
My favorite Foster, is also what he said around the online community of reporters and writers, letting journalists come out from the email and encourage them to use the software tools to build communities. They are core, readers, critics, supporters around them, to react, suggest, criticize, and even change the core of journalists.
Importantly, constructing such an interactive community can only be on the Internet, there is no possibility, this is the unique experience of the network media, without other media to make news consumers have such experience.
The second mistake of committed: Most news websites are waiting for readers to read, or listen, or see, passive as traditional media.
To be online media, let the people in the Internet "do" things, and not only "reading" information. Nora Paul, director of the New Media Research Institute, advocated the participation of people entering the website to participate in "activities". (She sees the current news website "too dry" in the online news conference.)
I think this is the core of today's online news. What we are making now is reading, not interactive. Paul's agency in the way new digital "storytelling", this college gathered the newslette and electric game designer, gathered the newsman with the artists, and the new way of conceivement.
If you want more adventures to try new ways, you need more "What you can do", not "readable information", this online news is new, is not traditional The content is changed to another medium.
Is this a place for online news? I think it is, I can find the forever from the history of media development. At the beginning of the TV, it was "a radio with pictures", and the camera was only photographed. After gradually maturing, the TV found his own way. The network is in the same transition period, now starting to develop its own storytelling, this time the rules of traditional media still account for strength.
Yes, there have been some news that only appear on the Internet. Snd.ies, the New Media Design Association, announced this year, and the excellent multimedia website will be selected every month, but the first few months participated very little, explained The media in such content is still there.
What is the news site like? This is like an electric game interaction, which does not have any other media. For example, some people propose to increase the real estate tax, make a trial on the Internet, people on the Internet can enter their housing prices to see how much taxes increase. In addition, online recipes, let the housewife enter the number of people, the components of the various materials are automatically calculated, helping people who are taking vegetables. The third fault offended: We have ignored the network trend too long. As an example of online episodes of "blog" (WebLog), the trend is extremely obvious, and the number has reached hundreds of thousands of spectrum, but in major news agencies, although there are some, they have not received it.
Why is the blog important to the news organization? Because this is the voice of the public. For example, I recently opened a public blog on the website, called Off the Record, anyone can propose an online topic and approved by the editorial review. For many people, this is the opportunity to appear in Observer-Reporter.
I think blogs have not been valued by the press, because it threatens the status quo of the press, because blog encourages everyone to participate, everyone pronounces, editors are not as rigorous as traditional news.
However, the "local" project of blogs and other networks is that the news organization should hug, they represent another type of communication, and the news website can be used as a unique manifestation.
When the news of the news can make online readers feel unique experience, maybe financial dilemma will disappear, and online news will grow.
