A group of regional websites is to have a new look from this week after a makeover designed to make them more “image-led” and less “cluttered.”

The thisis network, operated by Northcliffe Digital, is to roll out the new template across its sites over the next fortnight with the first new-look site, thisislincolnshire.co.uk, already live.

Northcliffe Digital recently appointed a group of 16 new digital publishers to drive forward the development of 22 of the biggest sites in a bid to maximise audience engagement.

The company says the new look delivers “a modern image-led experience for the user with a less cluttered design and higher impact commercial opportunities.”

The newly-appointed digital publishers are now adjusting site content in a way which Northcliffe Digital says “better serve the needs of visitors at different times of the day and at weekends.”

Managing director Mike Rowley said: “Northcliffe’s digital audience continues to grow and regularly hits record highs. This new fresh look will ensure an excellent experience for the communities we serve.”

The thisis sites provide the online presence for the corresponding Northcliffe newspaper titles in their respective areas.

To see the new look, go to thisislincolnshire.co.uk.

Comments

ExEx (26/04/2010 14:54:33)
‘The company says the new look delivers “a modern image-led experience for the user with a less cluttered design and higher impact commercial opportunities.” ‘
So, comparing the old (using thisisexeter with the new (thisislincolnshire), that means 9 news stories (including headline, standfirst and thumbnail) becomes 5 (headline only), 5 sports stories (headline and standfirst) goes to 6 (headline), and the 3 features (headline and standfirst) are replaced by 6 picks of the day (headline only).
The ‘commercial opportunities’ on the other hand don’t appear to have been reduced at all.
In other words the user gets less editorial (and apparently no features) but the same amount of advertising. Certainly sounds like ‘an excellent experience’ for the advertising community Northcliffe serves. Not so sure about the readers though.

Ivy Likes (26/04/2010 18:45:06)
It is awful isn’t it? I couldn’t tell which were the ads and which were the stories…

Robert Hardie, Digital Publishing Director for Nor (27/04/2010 13:42:05)
Thanks ExEx. Exactly the same number of stories are on the site as before, but there are fewer, better-displayed (we hope) ones on the new home page.

localhack (27/04/2010 15:56:44)
The new sites do look much better, but I reckon the new digital publishers are going to have their work cut out for them. Take www.thisisurreytoday.co.uk, whose masthead suggests it takes stories from four different papers – and can apparently only come up with four stories between them over a whole week.
The audience might be growing, but it seems that on the ground at least, Northcliffe is still determined to stick its head in the sand and pretend otherwise.
The most depressing thing for journalists is that with this kind of attention, Northcliffe’s localpeople sites are likely to do just as well in terms of traffic and therefore advertising – and so the bean counters will be handed yet another reason to get rid of the hacks entirely.

Robert Hardie, Digital Publishing Director NML (28/04/2010 14:11:11)
Thanks “localhack”. I can’t comment on www.thisisurrey.co.uk, but on www.thisissurrey.co.uk there have been 100+ articles uploaded into the searchable archive during the last week. A selection of these are then made available for users to browse. You’ll also spot that it is a site that hasn’t yet transferred into the new templates. Northcliffe’s Digital Publishers’ role is to ensure that the highly valued local content generated by Northcliffe’s talented journalists gets the best possible show online – and the new templates are helping them do just that judging by the positive feedback from users that has so far been received.

Robert Hardie, Digital Publishing Director NML (28/04/2010 14:13:03)
Erm, of course I meant www.thisissurreytoday.co.uk. Cough, cough: move on.

Fence hopper (30/04/2010 14:03:52)
Who do newspapers actually employ to ‘design’ their websites? I’ve seen better efforts on WordPress!

Kenneth Toad (11/05/2010 15:51:12)
Robert,
Fancy a pint sometime?
cheers
Ken
PS. Hope Beryl and the kids are OK.