OMG! Jamaica Gleaner strikes back…finally getting it right online ?

So there I was surfing the Jamaica Gleaner’s site this morning and I was actually enjoying myself and I was like hold up, there’s something new here and alas there it was, the home page was more user friendly, Web 2.0-esque, neat blocks of information, ads in blocks ( just need to standardise the sizes now), easy to read and navigate. Thank you jesus, now I don’t have to surf the site with one eye close and the other one squished up because trust me it was a pain to surf and get to where you wanted to get to with the previous version.
But, they still need to work on:

1. The information architecture and design of the inner pages, I guess they are working on it. I see they also copied the Jamaica Observer’s Facebook connect feature and also how show news updates with times to show the latest news, to prove active publishing of fresh information. They should see their unique visitor numbers improve.

2. The quality of the content writing and also the repurposing and organisation of the trailer loads of content(text,photos, videos etc) for current readers, to woo new online readers. This repurposed content enabled by social features and supported by a digital distribution and social media strategy will help them to also increase their pageviews, readership which means they will be able to see possibilities of new revenue channels in addition to the current ones.

3. Connecting with readers in a timely manner where they, when they are…which means listening to, observing as well as allowing them to participate in various ways so they feel connected and involved with the brand.

All needed by the Jamaica Gleaner yes but also all Jamaican/Caribbean mainstream media right now so they remain relevant to their audiences online.

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