Effectively Coordinating Print and Web Publications

Effectively Coordinating Print and Web Publications David Strom david@strom.com (516) 944-3407

Today’s seminar • Some platitudes from yours truly • Hear from our panelists • See lots of different web publications • Get your own comments

My background • Founding editor Network Computing 1990-2 • Self-publish Web Informant 1995- • Built Intranet Construction Site for CMP 1997 (both print and web) • Freelance writer and editor for both print and web trade publications

Mistakes on ICS (www.intranet-build.com) • Had different graphic artists for print and web, ended up doing graphics twice • Had web team inexperienced in publishing industry • Lack of overall coordination, no one really in charge • Print deadlines drove web content, rather than the other way around

ICS design flaws • Print was 4 serial editions, web static • Articles mainly reference works and too long for the web • Lame email newsletter to drive repeat traffic • Too many ad spots cluttered the page

Some wit and wisdom from Norm • “We still haven't found a way to put a magazine on the Web.” Norman Pearlstine, editor in chief, Time magazine. • CNNSI has taken off, yet “I'm not convinced that charging subscriptions wouldn't result in the site falling apart.”

So should you charge web visitors? • Two schools of thought, and you’ll hear more about both • An alternative is require registration on some portion of the site • How not to do it: Infoworld, which has two separate servers

The web is not a book • People don’t like to read from a screen • People are more impatient over 28.8 modems • Navigating online is still harder than turning pages

Don’t get too attracted to technology • Frames suck • The fewer graphics the better • The more complex your pages, the more limited your audience • The more dynamic your site, the less can be indexed by a search engine

Interactive is a dirty word • Visitors aren’t interested in video games • They take too much time and technology to do right • Develop simple things such as Attachmate’s Treasure Web that play off registrations (www.atm.com/treasure)

Understand your audience • What pages are popular? • What inbound links produce visitors? • How long are they at your site and where do they go? • What browsers do they use and where do they come from?

Think carefully about advertising • What you promise may not be what you deliver • Who really clicks on ad banners anyway? • Sell sponsorships like Forbes ($275,000 each)

Complement your print publication • Don’t worry about “giving away the store” • Match content delivery with newsstand availability • Have search button right up front and on top • Put lots of navigation aids everywhere

Hire the right web ME • Who can make the trains run • Who knows enough HTML to be dangerous • Who comes from publishing • Who can coordinate with print counterparts

Issues • Does your audience first see something on the web or in print? • how do you display URLs and cross-reference? • Should the web edition be a reference work or stand on its own? • reading from the screen is slower than from the printed page! • How easy is it to update your own content? • keep archives of the past, even if out of date? • Are web and print editions enemies or bedfellows?

Panelists • Nancy Macagno, Director New Media, Consumer Reports • Jackie Gavron, Editor Windows Sources • Jennie Baird, Editor, Smart Money Interactive

Discussion topics • Panelist and publication background • Relationship between print and web editorial • Production streams for both • Differences in design • Lessons learned, skills looking for

Effectively Coordinating Print and Web Publications