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Website design needs tools, and fortunately, website design tools are plentiful and within reach. Which opened new horizons for designers to more innovation and creativity?
Because everything has limits. Design limits always reappear due to the nature of the site being designed. The golden rule in designing a successful website is the consistency and fit of the design with the nature of the activity and the message that the site wants to convey to the visitor.
Here, we must go back to the origins of understanding the basics of good design for each type of website. It is no older and clearer than newspapers.
Given the increasing popularity of the news website, it is important to take a look at the design of this type of website, which we will cover in the following lines.
Newspaper websites and huge content
Newspaper websites contain a huge amount of content, and this content is constantly changing. But the main dilemma is your ability to keep the reader and get him or her to come back.
There is no doubt that the quality of content is at the forefront of the success of newspaper websites, however mobile websites such as mobiles and tablets are faster and more seamless than websites.
Good newspaper website design solves the conflict between bulky content and problems with bounce rates and conversion optimization. Also, using WordPress to edit a news website is a lot easier in this regard because it has a number of plugins dedicated to designing websites of this type, and it is easy to learn even for beginners and amateurs.
The digital transformation of news
Over the course of a decade, since the Internet became easy to use on mobile phones, most news organizations have adopted the digital approach to publishing their content.
Digital news instead of traditional newspapers has boomed so much that some countries like the US and UK are even interested in mobile news sites because 70% of news readers rely on their phones to access the sites.
However, this digital trend of news was reinforced by a number of factors, most notably:
- Online news is freely available.
- The news is constantly updated and at times, in real-time.
- Ability to do news sharing.
- The ability to interact with other readers, and engage in discussions about the news.
- Ability to give feedback to the publisher directly.
The impact of the Corona pandemic on the media cannot be missed, as online news has witnessed a remarkable growth compared to the decrease in the number of followers and viewers for other media such as television and radio.
Keys to Successful News Website Design
1- Boost reader loyalty
This factor is important for all types of websites, which is to create an incentive for the visitor to return to the site again. But it is extremely difficult for news websites because of the sheer volume of content and the permanence of change.
Visitor loyalty to a site cannot be bet based on content, as it is constantly changing. Therefore, the design of the website is what distinguishes the news site from others, which is an incentive for the visitor to return to the site again.
For a visual design that is attractive to the reader, it is recommended to choose a correct hierarchical design of the content, and use high-quality images and videos, intelligently placing them in between (or before) the text to add the suspense factor.
2- Enable visitor sharing
This means adding the characteristics of visitors’ participation in the news and enabling participation and discussion.
This brings us to the strategy of integrating the news site with social media.
The keys to sharing news via social media have become one of the essentials in the design of any news website. It is an effective way to reach the audience.
3- Maximize earnings from ads
Studies have shown that people will not pay for news because they can get it for free.
So, subscribing to the newspaper’s website will generate little profit, and instead, you can resort to Google ads.
Here are some pointers you should watch out for:
- Ensure that advertisements do not intrude on users so that users are not bouncing.
- Take advantage of tools provided by WordPress like Ad Rotate and Ad Sanity
4- Attention to content update
What distinguishes digital news is its constant updating. So, constantly updating the content and providing the latest news on the go makes the news website always active, never stops traffic, and the bounce rate is kept to a minimum.
On the other hand, attention should be paid to the way the content is formulated, so that it is more readable. Some programs such as WP Poll and Modal Survey can be used to achieve this.
5- Reduce download time
This means the speed of loading the pages of the site, which should not take much time. If this factor is so important for all types of websites, it is doubly important for news sites due to intense competition, especially with the potential for content to be very similar.
To avoid this problem, you must choose a reliable hosting company, make sure to provide a version of the site that works on mobile phones, as you must ensure that the pages are compatible with AMP.
Bottom Line
In the previous lines, we discussed news websites, and how the nature of their content greatly influences design.
The importance and change of content may be an attraction or a distraction factor for the visitor. So, the design should be the attraction that ensures that the visitor will come back to the site again.
We also covered some of the keys to a successful news website design, how to solve bounce rate issues, and how to boost revenue with Google Ads, as well as take advantage of WordPress plugins that help present content in an interesting and unobtrusive manner.
We cannot overlook the importance of providing a version of the site that is suitable for viewing on mobile phones, given that reliance on mobile phones to see the latest news has become the general trend around the world today.
If you do not have enough experience, you can use a web design company in Egypt, such as Tech Village.
