IrishTimes.com – New Irish Times Website homepage

So what do I think?

So this is all subjective, and should be read in that light. The first thing I have to say is that this is a great improvement over old ireland.com site. It’s looks like a newspaper website. The homepage uses a 3-column layout, and for now I’m basking in the vista of an ad-free Irish Times (wont last more than an hour or two I’m sure, and even then I can easily block it all).

There are a few things that I really don’t get/like. The main navigation tab mechanism is far too subtle, and really does not tell me in a glance where I am (the main purpose of the tab function):

Irish Times Main Navigation Tabs

Personally the location indicator just isn’t obvious enough. If you drill down to a further level I think it becomes more visible:

Irish Times Main Navigation Tabs Tier 2

And again, this time changing to a different Tier 1 page:

Irish Times Main Navigation Tabs Tier 1 New

I think this could be easily improved by using a new background colour for both the current Tab and the sub-navigation. Convention is a very strong tool, and this is how using an active background colour might appear:

Mock Up of Irish Times Main Nav Using Active Background Colour

Would anyone agree that the active state background-colour contributes to an easier indication of current location? My poor mock-up may not be the best example however, and a strong high-contrast solour would do the job better I’m sure.

Related to this – I think the tabs used in the Popular Stories element are rather poorly designed:

Irish Times Popular Tab Function

“Site Index”?

Again, why break with convention? It’s a “Site Map” so why call it a “Site Index”? The feature itself is very slick, using Javascript to ease the hidden element into sight, and the layout and design of the site map is great:

Irish Times Site Map (Index) Function

People are used to looking for a ‘site map’. That’s the convention, and I can see no advantage at all in using terminology some people will not be familiar with.

Lightbox

When I was viewing the page without CSS (I often do this to see what the spider sees… sad eh?) I noticed large chunks of text that I couldn’t see on the rendered page. Always triggers a suspicion with me. But I found the text in quite a good Lightbox implementation:

Irish Times Homepage Lightbox

I like that, and I’m sure it was controversial given that they could have increased their Page Impressions by simply putting each image on it’s own page.

Where’s the fold?

On my current set-up the Homepage fold is in a rather interesting position:

Irish Times Homepage with Fold Indication

Now that fold location will be different for most users, but the main problem it causes for me is that the fold occurs at a horizontal element which spans the full width of the page. That in turn removes a visual cue that there is more content further down the page. Had the fold occurred somewhere at the 3 column area, or if the page retained the 3 columns deeper down, I’d have an instant indication that there was more. A very small issue, but worth noting all the same. (For an interesting read about how important visual indicators are have a search for info on why Google included the copyright on their results pages).

Other Nice Features

The Carousel looks nice, but I have the feeling the CTA isn’t clear enough. Do I click on these, and if so where will it bring me? Maybe it’s just me (it all too often is BTW), and I’m sure many people will day it’s obvious. But it made me stop and think for a minute (always a bad sign IMO):

Irish Times Homepage Carousel Feature

Other thing worth noting is that some of the description below each item are wrapping down into the overflow which is hidden. Small bug, and I’m sure it will be fixed. Same thing happening in the Masthead feature, which I’m sure will be cleaned up:

Irish Time Masthead Feature

I think the the homepage voting feature is very much adrift (did you even notice it?), and there’s something weird about the red play button on the 3 video thumbnails that I just cant figure out. Of course no blogs as we’d expect from the IT [Update: Damien found them, I'm obviously blind]. The weather feature is a great touch (hover over the weather in the masthead).

The Proof Is In The Eating…

You know… Content Is King. So possibly the most important pages are the actual story pages. Other than the boilerplate issues I mentioned above, you cant fault the story pages. Great layout, obtrusive ad elements pushed away from main content element, and nothing to break the flow of the readable content:

Irish Times Story Page

You Haven’t mentioned SEO Once?

Well there’s not too much to say just yet. But here’s a few things I noticed.

1. Homepage article URLs after rotating inside site?

I’m not sure what will happen, but I noticed that homepage articles have /homepage/ in the URL. It will be interesting to see what happens after they rotate off homepage – will the URL change? Need to watch that one, but for now I’m not sure.

2. Robots.txt contains a few unneeded lines in there that just duplicate earlier Disallows:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /dublin/
Disallow: /eurotimes/
Disallow: /survey/
Disallow: /promotion/
Disallow: /Storage/
Disallow: /ITImage/
Disallow: /photosales/

User-agent: Mediapartners-Google*
Disallow: /Storage/
Disallow: /ITImage/

User-agent: http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/crawler
Disallow: /photosales/

User-agent: Slurp
Disallow: /photosales/

User-agent: TurnitinBot
Disallow: /photosales/

User-agent: nutch
Disallow: /photosales/

User-agent:* should cover all the other User-agents listed below (if they are well-behaved), which makes those extra directives superfluous.

3. http://Ireland.com 301 redirected to www.irishtimes.com:

http://ireland.com/

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Age: 20
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:20:03 GMT
Content-Length: 230
Connection: Keep-Alive
Via: NS-CACHE-6.0: 101
Etag: "KXJLNKAMKKTLYTZXY"
Server: Apache
Location: http://www.irishtimes.com/
Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1

Meanwhile www.ireland.com is giving a 403 Forbidden. Update: this was obviously something to do with migration as it’s since resolving:

Ireland.com Homepage Lightbox

Don’t you just hate it when you Lightbox doesn’t cover the full page height?

4. Damn Ugly redirects…
Try www.ireland.com:

http://www.ireland.com/

<html>
<head><meta HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="0;URL=index.jsp"></meta></head>
<body></body>
</html>

Which leads to:

http://www.ireland.com/index.jsp

HTTP/1.1 302 Moved Temporarily
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:04:11 GMT
Server: Apache-Coyote/1.1
X-Powered-By: Servlet 2.4; JBoss-4.2.2.GA (build: SVNTag=JBoss_4_2_2_GA date=200710221139)/Tomcat-5.5
Pragma: no-cache
Cache-Control: no-store
Expires: 0
Location: http://www.ireland.com/home/landing.ie
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Length: 0
Via: 1.1 www.ireland.com
Keep-Alive: timeout=10, max=99
Connection: Keep-Alive

Which heads off to:

http://www.ireland.com/home/landing.ie

HTTP/1.1 302 Moved Temporarily
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:04:13 GMT
Server: Apache-Coyote/1.1
X-Powered-By: Servlet 2.4; JBoss-4.2.2.GA (build: SVNTag=JBoss_4_2_2_GA date=200710221139)/Tomcat-5.5
Pragma: no-cache
Cache-Control: no-store
Expires: 0
Location: http://www.ireland.com/home/landing.ie?pid=0
Content-Language: en-GB
Content-Length: 0
Via: 1.1 www.ireland.com
Keep-Alive: timeout=10, max=98
Connection: Keep-Alive
Content-Type: text/illegal

Well it seems that the http://ireland.com 301 redirect to www.irishtimes.com has been fixed now, but given the canonical URL issue with http://ireland.com combined with those 3 redirects above I have a feeling ireland.com is going to cause some indigestion…

And How About Ireland.com?

Not much to say really – doesn’t flick any switches for me personally:

New Ireland.com Website

I’m sure they are going to build this out over time, but I had expected Ireland.com to become a destination portal. There’s lots of opportunities to monetise this baby – I wonder have they got an affiliate marketer in there yet?

Conclusion

Apologies for the long post (and God forbid you’re on dial-up for all those images…). Overall I think www.irishtimes.com is going to be a great success. I hope that they iteratively improve some of the boilerplate items that could be more usable. I have to commend the Irish Times for putting users ahead of monetisation – it’s clear to see that content has the highest priority, and adverts have not been positioned to disrupt the flow as is so often the case with newpapers these days. Compared to many other news sites I would have to say that I’m very, very impressed with the new Irish Times. Well done IT!

Want to read more?

1. Irish Times Where Art Thou?
2. How To Get Your Site Out Of The Supplemental Index -Krishna De
3. Yahoo.ie Launches 2 Years Later, And Still Not Irish

Not wishing to be outdone by Grandad, and just to tell the world that I too joined the illustrious list, I can announce that I too was on the distribution for the PR detailing the latest news about the Irish Times.

No more Pay-Wall, and moving to IrishTimes.com

I had heard about the changes when I met Roan Murphy (Commercial Analyst at Digitalworx) at the inaugural meeting of the IIA’s Internet Marketing Work Group. Nice guy, and I’m sure quite busy right now. At the time he mentioned some of the forthcoming changes, I of course had to ask about how they intended handling the migration (my mind has now been programmed to think first about crawlers…). It will be interesting to see how that’s all set up tomorrow when the sites are separated out.

But Back To Damien…

I don’t think there’s a brighter mind in Ireland when it comes to using the social aspects of the Internet to create dialogues. Not one that I’ve connected with anyway. I use the word ‘dialogues’ because that really is the basis of the social web – multiple interactions between parties. No more of this push-marketing now you know.

The PR I received is a great example of how old-school media technicians are still grappling with how the rules change online. Here’s a short list of what I see wrong with the Irish Times PR, and why I’m talking about the PR rather than the message:

1. Email had no message – just the boilerplate signature of the sender;
2. Not personalised in any way (nothing to personalise) – unlike SeedCorn
3. No introduction or overview – it’s nice to get a short overview of what I’m looking at (like most people, time is at a premium for me). The PR could easily be paraphrased in a few bullets, followed by why this might be of interest to me, and then close by mentioning that more detail is attached if I need it;
4. Email was sent from a @yahoo.co.uk email address, even though the boilerplate included a @q4pr.ie contact email. Very weird, and unfortunately spammy-looking;
5. Combine (1) and (4) above and I cold be forgiven for thinking twice about opening that attachment;
6. All recipients listed to To: field. Well at least we all know each other now. Not to mention that Grandad got a good chuckle out of it

The distro list on the mail was quite small, and I saw 6 bloggers on that list. So far it hasn’t been such a successful strategy – Grandad took the mickey out of the distro list, Damien used his usual down-to-earth language in describing the PR, the other 3 blogs haven’t carried anything yet, and I’m being me LOL.

So Seriously Business People…

Use your good-ole PR agency for doing the good-old fashioned PR ‘stuff’. Talk to someone who actually really understands online PR for all this new-fangled Interweb stuff. He might be outspoken, but if you appreciate someone who calls it as they see it, and who really ‘gets’ this stuff, then you need to speak to Damien.

Want to read more?

1. Best Online Publication – The Irish Times
2. Realex Irish Web Awards 2009
3. Search Marketing World 2007, ShareIT Cork, and A Few Other Pieces of Irish SEO News

Google News Ireland adds HSE to entertainment section

If anything those stories would have better relevance if they were swapped over IMO.

I suppose there’s a certain irony in this categorisation (you wont get this unless you’re Irish or have had the fortune of interacting with the Irish Health System). But it just goes to show that algos have a long way to go before they can really ‘get it’.

Anyone else seen any queer results in Google’s Irish News aggregator?

Want to read more?

1. Google News Acting Weird?
2. Irish Media, News Websites to Readers – ‘Don’t Read Us’
3. Golden Spider Awards – The Results

European Online Marketing Spend 2008

We all need figures to back up our assumptions and budget proposals. Here’s a handy prediction from IAB Europe which shows that Europe is fast catching up with our North American counterparts when it comes to advertising spend online:

[O]nline advertising spend within the IAB network in Europe during 2007 will reach 11.5 billion euro, up from 8 billion euro in 2006. This is a like for like increase of 38% on last year’s market value. The spend includes values for display advertising, search marketing, classifieds and directories and email marketing.

The release goes on to mention that in emerging markets the increase is likely closer to 70% YoY, and predicts 30-40% increases in the UK, Denmark, France and Germany.

I like the hypothesised drivers of this growth:

The growth is driven by higher levels broadband penetration across the regions and increased advertiser confidence in the medium.

Of course here in Ireland we don’t actually have demand for broadband… Oh, actually, that was the old eircom…

2008 predictions

Every market identified the same trends to watch in 2008: web TV, mobile internet, behavioural targeting and social media.

I would imagine they were most of the trends we were all watching carefully in 2007. Although, in line with my recent post about Multivariate and A/B Testing, I reckon that BT will take off more and more.

I wonder if their are equivalent Irish figures available? If anyone knows if these stats exist I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Want to read more?

1. Search Engine Usage in Ireland – The Facts & Figures, Statistical Analysis March 2007
2. Internet Marketing For Hotels – Best Practice & ROI Study
3. Keyword Data Is Often Very Skewed – Internet Marketers To Blame?

Funda were the guys behind Shamrog Island viral campaign that hit the headlines last year.

David mentions an email sent by Funda’s CEO Ronan Higgins (who has been appearing with increasing frequency in my referrals of late) to clients explaining that

it was not possible to achieve the market leading position within the target time frame in order to make the business financially viable.

I imagine that is a bit of a red herring from Funda. I doubt they had any expectation of becoming the market leader, certainly not within a 1 year time horizon.

More likely the decision was purely strategic, and very much tied into the general state of both the economy and, more importantly, the property market. recent declines in property prices will likely lead to deflationary expectations. This coupled with expected interest rises is likely to further lead to a confluence of conditions that makes the Irish property market highly prone to some form of shock.

In effect I imagine Funda concluded that this market was not nearly as attractive going forward as it was in 2005-06 when they first decided on an entry strategy.

[Off with the economists hat, back on with the Internet marketer cap.]

From a marketing perspective, I noted back in September last year that I was underwhelmed by Funda’s follow-through after creating so much buzz from the Shamrog Island. I thought then, and still believe, that the timing of the campaign wasn’t right – they were unable to build on the momentum they generated from the viral campaign.

Pity – the viral really was cracking IMO.

Want to read more?

1. Funda Ireland, €30k (excluding the SEO)
2. Dublin Coastal Development a LOT Slicker Than Funda.ie
3. Estate Agents sell MyHome.ie

As if we needed any more confirmation that rich media is the hottest ticket on the Internet.

Heather Hopkins has just released new figures showing that within days YouTube will be more popular than the BBC.

Just wait till G figure out how to really monetise that sucker…

Want to read more?

1. The Rise And Rise Of Social Media As A Marketing Channel
2. Internet Video – The Next ‘Big’ Marketing Theme?
3. Internet Marketing For Hotels – Best Practice & ROI Study

“News To Me” is the world as YOU see it. Your videos, pictures and stories showcased in an original, fast-paced and interactive show debuting on Headline News on Saturday, May 19. “News To Me” is your show, so send your videos and pictures. In addition to CNN.com I-Report content, the show will also feature videos from Blip.tv , Jumpcut.com , Revver.com and ThePalestra.com. Source.

The show is a nice example of user generated content making its way into the mainstream media. I have no idea what the show itself is like, but it speaks volumes that CNN would give 2 hours per schedule week to this content. [As an aside, I would have thought that CNN's Yahoo! driven site search would be a bit better.]

Online, Offline – less and less of a difference?

Again, the main thing I take from this is the blurring of media channels – Internet content is fast making its way onto off-line channels. And how long will it take before those off-line channels become part of the Internet anyway?

As a final thought – can you imagine the RTE version? Responses on a postcard please to…

Want to read more?

1. Irish Media, News Websites to Readers – ‘Don’t Read Us’
2. Offline RSS Reading – Google Gears & Greader
3. Want Loyal Customers? Give Them What They Want How They Want It.

Absolutely nothing to do with SEO or marketing but good God I just couldn’t stop laughing at this. This guy is a genius.

Want to read more?

1. Google Phone Number

This ad has been banned from Irish television and radio because it is ‘Political’. Under Irish legislation (Radio and Television Act 1988, s.10(3)):

No advertisement shall be broadcast which is directed towards any religious or political end or which has any relation to an industrial dispute.

According to the Irish Independent (reg. reqd.), the Commission appently believe that the ad encourages political action by including the Trocaire website address:

The BCI appears to believe that because our website address is in the ad, we are directing people to take political action

The above mentioned legislation does not cover the Internet however (more useful on-line disruption of off-line life), and the ad is quickly going viral in a textbook example of using the web to circumvent ill-conceived State regulation.

Want to read more?

1. Dotherightthing.com – Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility
2. Irish Road Safety
3. TLD for Country Specific Searches – What Domain Extension (ccTLD) Should You Choose?

I hadn’t seen this before but it is absolute class:

I cant see a way to contact Ian Kenny – I wonder does he do freelance animation work?

Want to read more?

1. How Would You Let Them Know? Broken Website, and No Email Contact