Recently, the editor of an AAN paper asked for suggestions on improving his paper’s website. I received permission to blog my answer to him – so that we all could offer ideas.

Above the fold

“Above the fold” is a term leftover from print newspaper days, but it has relevance in the online world, where users rarely scroll down the homepage to view additional content. [See Poynter's EyeTrack Studies.]

So what’s visible above the fold? Navigation, ad content, a rotating story/image teaser, a link to the cover story, and 3 upcoming events.

What’s below the fold? Tons of articles, more ad content, and listings search engines.

Five Quick Ideas for Improving this Site

1. Revamp the ‘above the fold’ space on the homepage. Move search for events and restaurants into a prominent position. Shrink the size of the rotating image (if it is kept), and add navigational elements that allow readers to flip back to the 3rd or last image they saw.

2. Make it a conversation. Add commenting functionality to articles. Consider displaying user comments on your homepage or on the section fronts to let readers know their voices are being heard. Including “bloggers linking here” links from technorati on articles.

3. Write headlines for the web. “Lonely Rose,” “Hay Ride,” and “Fuzzy Math” are clever headlines that work well in print layouts with images and subheads as context clues, but to readers who scan online, they don’t contain enough information. (Nor are they particularly search engine friendly.)

4. Invest in events listings. It can be a tremendous amount of work on the backend, but users expect the robust events listings functionality that they can find from sites as varied as Pollstar, Upcoming.org, and Eventful. I could only find 1 music event on this site, but I know there are many in the print edition.

5. Consider a ‘daily’ content strategy. This one is a toughie. But no matter how well designed a site of Thursday’s content is, it will be old hat to readers on Tuesdays. Brainstorm ways to get material on the website daily – publishing syndicated or feature stories online before they are printed, for example. Create robust events listings that feature ‘things to do today’ on the homepage every day.

Does anyone else have ideas for improving this website? What has worked for you?