50 tips to improve your website
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50Logan Aimone, MJE // School Newspapers Online
TIPSTO IMPROVE YOUR WEBSITE
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50TIPSORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Publish often.
Don’t be tied to print publication dates. The website should be used to communicate news immediately.
Go online first.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
1
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Consume online journalism.
Pay attention to how you read it, what works and what doesn’t. Figure out how to emulate the models you like.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
2
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Consume online journalism.ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
2
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Consume online journalism.ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
2
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Plan for breaking news.
Have a plan so your staff is ready to report immediately and add to coverage as time allows.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
3
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Plan for breaking news.ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
3
Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Mo.thekirkwoodcall.com
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Trim the categories.
Only include those categories in your navigation bar or on your homepage to which you publish regularly.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
4
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Trim the categories.ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
4
Tuesday, March 18, 14
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YOUR WEBSITE
One categoryper story.
Assign a story to just one category, either a parent or child. Stories should not show up in multiple places on the homepage.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
5
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Include widgets that make sense.
Content categories, polls, most popular stories, video/photo streams.
Reconsider weather widgets — no one relies on your website for a weather report.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
6
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Create a clear hierarchy on your homepage.
Help your reader know what’s important.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
7
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Redesign your homepage for special events/reports.
Understand why the viewer is coming to your site that day.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
8
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Redesign your homepage for special events/reports.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
8
Benilde-St. Margaret’s SchoolSt. Louis Park, Minn.bsmknighterrant.com
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50TIPSDISPLAYING CONTENT
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Tabs or indents are not necessary.
WordPress will insert space between paragraphs to indicate a break.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
9
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Link related stories together.
Use a related stories box, hyperlinks or chapters to provide backstory to the reader.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
10
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use contextual linking within your stories.
Direct the reader to explanatory pages, source documents or more information.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
11
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use relative paths for all links within your site.
This means just the part after the domain name and slash (start with the slash)www.yourdomain.com/news/majorstory
/news/majorstory
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
12
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use short links, not URLs. Even better, use relative short links.
This makes it easy to find stories even if the headline or category change.www.yourdomain.com/?p=1234
/?p=1234
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
13
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Your main image should be set as your Featured Image.
This ensures an image will come up with the category widget and will be more likely to be seen on the homepage or category page.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
14
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YOUR WEBSITE
Separate the writer’s name into a custom field.
This helps with search and organizing the site because the byline won’t show up as the preview text.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
15
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YOUR WEBSITE
Use original images.
(or at least Creative Commons images with appropriate “share” qualities)
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
16
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YOUR WEBSITE
Add captions (and credits) to all photos.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
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YOUR WEBSITE
Be an editor. Curate only the best images for a gallery or slideshow.
Don’t add dozens of photos just because you can. Avoid poor quality or repetitive images.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
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YOUR WEBSITE
Have a plan for tags, which allow readers to quickly search for related content.
Use tags for recurring people and topics, and to cross-categorize. Tag clouds don’t help much.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
19
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Have a plan for tags, which allow readers to quickly search for related content.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
19
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Humor and lighter content can bring readers to your site.
Once they are there, have more substantial content for them to discover.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
20
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Embed Web elements for interactivity.
https://www.thinglink.com/
http://infogr.am/
http://prezi.com/
http://www.easel.ly/
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Embed Web elements for interactivity.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
21Grosse Pointe North HSGrosse Pointe Woods, Mich.mygpn.com
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Embed Web elements for interactivity.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
21
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Embed Web elements for interactivity.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
21
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use text as needed.
Videos and pictures can tell a full story.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
22
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50TIPSUNPUBLISHED CONTENT
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use the Paste as Plain Text tool.
Avoid awkward characters and formatting.
MANAGING UNPUBLISHED CONTENT
23
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use the Paste as Plain Text tool.
Avoid awkward characters and formatting.
MANAGING UNPUBLISHED CONTENT
23
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Resize your photos before uploading and use Photoshop’s Save for Web option.
This guarantees faster load times because only the essential information is stored.
MANAGING UNPUBLISHED CONTENT
24
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50TIPSDESIGN PRACTICES
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Select a color scheme that evokes your school but doesn’t necessarily match it.
Colors for sports uniforms don’t always look good online.
DESIGN PRACTICES
25
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Select a good color scheme.DESIGN PRACTICES
25
Community HS, Ann Arbor, Mich.www.chscommunicator.com
Peninsula HS, Gig Harbor, Wash.www.phsoutlook.com
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Select a good color scheme.DESIGN PRACTICES
25
Lewisville (Texas) HSwww.farhar.net
Manchester (Ct.) HSwww.mhsredline.com
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
The Web has all colors.Don’t use black and white photos.
DESIGN PRACTICES
26
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use horizontal photos.
Vertical images are not as Web-friendly as horizontal images in most themes.
Vertical or square images might be awkwardly cropped.
DESIGN PRACTICES
27
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use horizontal photos.DESIGN PRACTICES
27
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use horizontal photos.DESIGN PRACTICES
27
Lots of empty space from an irregular
photo size.
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use horizontal photos.DESIGN PRACTICES
27
Face is cropped from photo.
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Design applies to the home page and the story page. Consider “the look” of each story.
Don’t just use the default template.
DESIGN PRACTICES
28
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use other material (B-roll, pics, pull quotes, ads, related links) to keep the reader’s attention on the story page.
DESIGN PRACTICES
29
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Design a favicon.
Find instructions online to create a 16x16 pixel icon to insert into your header code.
DESIGN PRACTICES
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Go wild! Design a bullet point image.
You can add code to use an image or character.
DESIGN PRACTICES
31
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50TIPSTECHNICAL TIPS
Tuesday, March 18, 14
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Don’t use FTP for file sharing or storage.
A site like Dropbox or Google Drive/Docs is made for these purposes.
TECHNICAL TIPS
32
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Prevent your site from being hacked by performing updates to WordPress, theme and plugins.
TECHNICAL TIPS
33
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use plugins sparingly because they slow the speed at which the site loads.
TECHNICAL TIPS
34
Tuesday, March 18, 14
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YOUR WEBSITE
Use the iframe embed code, not plugins, for YouTube, Vimeo, Issuu.
If the plugin is deactivated, the rest of your site will not be affected.
TECHNICAL TIPS
35
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use responsive design because a site will be viewed on multiple devices.
TECHNICAL TIPS
36
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50TIPSSTAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Have a key student responsible for the website with a title and position equivalent to managing editor or editor in chief.
There are multiple configurations, but the website should not be an afterthought or a clerical position.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
37
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Develop a social media editor position.
Have that person be an expert in social media. Teach the other staff members. Develop and implement policies.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
38
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use Google Analytics to learn about your audience.
Who’s visiting?When? What did they look at? For how long?
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
39
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use Google Analytics to learn about your audience.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
39
Infrequent posting then content dump.
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use Google Analytics to learn about your audience.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
39
Steady weekday traffic
Tuesday, March 18, 14
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Develop and implement a comments policy.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
40
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YOUR WEBSITE
Push your staff. Write more. Gain followers. Try new things.
Set goals based on analytics results.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
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Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Accept local advertisements to create revenue.
Combine with print for a package.
Use analytics to pitch to certain advertisers.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
42
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Install an AdSense widget on your site to create revenue.
This will serve ads to users based on their browser history, and you can limit to broad categories.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
43
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50TIPSPROMOTIONS
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use the same social media as your audience. Follow all students, teachers and coaches.
Use as a source for promotion via sharing.
Use as a source for potential news and story ideas.
PROMOTIONS
44
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use your Twitter feed to tease to your website.
You don’t need your feed on the site unless it is sharing news that is not on your site.
PROMOTIONS
45
Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Consider having more than one Twitter feed that brings new news to the site.
A sports account for live tweets at sporting events helps for those who might be interested (while not annoying those who aren’t).
PROMOTIONS
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
QR codes can link print material to the Web — and drive traffic.
PROMOTIONS
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YOUR WEBSITE
Post your links on Google Plus to increase prominence of your stories in the search results.
PROMOTIONS
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50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Send original Tweets and Facebook posts to create traffic.
Have a personality, not an auto-feed.
PROMOTIONS
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Tuesday, March 18, 14
50 TIPSTO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Broaden your audience beyond students and parents.
Use Reddit or other social media to share and discuss articles.
PROMOTIONS
50
Tuesday, March 18, 14
Logan Aimone, MJE // School Newspapers Onlinelogan@snosites.com schoolnewspapersonline.com
QUESTIONS?FIRE AWAY.
Tuesday, March 18, 14
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