Regional publisher Newsquest has moved to a mobile-friendly responsive web platform for its network of more than 140 local and regional news sites.
Until now, visitors to Newsquest sites coming via mobile devices have been automatically redirected to a mobile version of the site.
However the latest move will see a single responsive platform implemented across desktop, mobile and tablet which will automatically resize to fit all screens.
It comes as the latest comScore figures show that users spend more time per month on Newsquest sites than any other regional press group. The company claims a digital audience of 28m unique users.
Digital director Mark Smith said: “We’re proud that we have the most engaged users in the industry, and the move to a responsive platform will encourage them to spend even more time with us.
“It’s important because our local advertisers need to know that it’s local people who are driving our audience growth, whether it be on mobile or desktop, and these user engagement levels show that’s the case.”
Newsquest’s Director of Digital Platforms, Simon Hill, added: “ By presenting our news and information this way, we are giving our readers the best possible experience to discover and consume all of our content equally on all desktop and mobile devices.
The initial releases are just the first of an ongoing programme of work to improve the presentation, distribution and usability of our digital content and products, with a strong focus on mobile and social channels.”
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Excellent – a sound investment of money and resources to boost NQ’s revenue. I’m sure we all look forward to the company soon reporting bigger profits as a result of this venture.
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Newsquest slowly emerging out of the 90’s
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yes but…………………………………………………….. regular HTFP viewers will be able to fill in this line.
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Has anyone asked why it has taken so long?
Responsive in 2016 is a default, not something to be proud of moving to, surely embarrassment its taken this long?
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Responsive? Great! Nothing I like more than trawling through 50ft long web page on my phone, let alone load times and bandwidth issues.
Please look at more of an adaptive approach to improve engagement. Your users are looking for very different things when they view on mobile compared with desktop!
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And not before time but I’ll wait and see if there’s any noticeable improvement. Currently, NQ websites resemble what a monkey could create given 5 minutes with a PC logged on to WordPress.
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Agree with Dave. Responsive is okay, to a point, but just allowing the content to flow differently dependant on screen width is not usually a great user experience. An adaptive website allows for a different device-led experience which responsive then complements for varying device sizes. This method allows users to reach what they’re after more quickly without the need for developing expensive, platform-specific apps. That’s really the 2016 default!
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Doesn’t really make any difference. There aren’t many journalists left at Newsquest who can write anything worth reading anyway.
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Well done Newsquest….
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