The rising potential of the internet as a mass medium service has resulted in most news organisations being brought to the World Wide Web. (Sundar 2000) The Times Online is the internet’s equivalent of The Times newspaper, and uses a wide range of multimedia techniques, from the more basic writing of stories with images, to videos and user generated content (UGC) to present the news to its audience. However, the answer to whether The Times Online is a ‘good’ website relies not only on the news it relays to the public, but the extent to which the aspects of its site are carried out successfully and efficiently. As Lawrence and Tavakol (2007) suggest, a sign of a ‘good’ internet site exists in whether the user can carry out the task they desire -in this case exploring the news – without noticing they are even using a website interface.
Kharbanda (2006) suggests that the most effective and efficient way to increase traffic on to a website is through search engine optimization (SEO), an aspect which Grappone and Couzin (2008) suggest encompasses a wide range of tasks to improve a website’s presence on search engines, and which Thurow and Musica (2009) define as the way to create the best chance that a site will be found in the top positions in search results. The Times Online is the top result in search engines when ‘The Times’ is typed in, making it extremely easy to find, and ranks at the number four position when the phrase ‘newspaper’ is searched. Kharbanda (2006) proposes that using SEO to attain positions within the top 20 results, especially the very top, has an extremely positive effect on a website. It would seem that The Times Online has been successful in this aspect of its site.
Once having easily found The Times Online, the website seems to present a fairly impressive degree of successful usability. Nielsen (1993) suggests that usability applies to all aspects of a system with which a human might interact, and that this system should be efficient to use so that a high level of productivity is possible from it, in this case the website. (Flanders) suggests that a page on a website should not take more than four seconds to load; The Times Online seems to load extremely quickly and takes roughly two to three seconds on any page, suggesting that its usability is efficient and it is technically very fast and reliable. The website also appears technically stable on a large range of internet browsers, after trying it on Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox; it works consistently on all of them, making the experience of this site positive for all users and not implementing any difficulties while trying to complete the task of reading the news and finding the specific area that interests them.
Alongside having an efficient usability system, a website needs to let visitors quickly and easily find whatever it is they’re looking for. (Flanders) The Times Online features what Lawrence and Tavakol (2007) define as a centralised navigation system; all its pages have the same possible links in a consistently positioned frame, in this case, a box that remains at the top of every page just below the logo. This gives the site a reliable structure and makes it easy to navigate around, therefore making it dependable and suitable for a professional site. (Lawrence and Tavakol 2007) The Times Online also utilizes techniques such as having clear and competent links and directions to popular content and a logo that, if clicked always returns the user to the homepage, both of which Flanders insists upon in a good website.
The design of The Times Online gives the website a professional appeal and is linked very closely with the style of a newspaper, mainly using a black and white colour scheme with injections of green and blue to make links to other content clearer. Sauman et al (2009) suggest that stories or information features that are found in newspapers can have more robustness online when they contain photos, graphics and videos, making these stories more dynamic in their online environment. The Times Online features videos and images with their stories within their design, therefore creating this dynamic effect that is not possible in static print newspapers. The design also complies to that of a professional website by always featuring the large logo at the top of the page, using an appropriate, professional-looking font face, and using the right balance of ‘white space’ between its visual elements, all of which are suggestions from Flanders regarding successful design.
One aspect that features within the design layout of The Times Online website is a navigational box that presents users with the option to jump to the most popular content on the website. This aspect of content is very important for a website as Flanders suggests that the most popular material should be easily locatable by the user, and that irrelevant content should not be included. Flanders also suggests that content within a website should be broken down into logical categories, which The Times Online does successfully in its central navigation bar, featuring headings such as ‘Business’, ‘Money’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Travel’, with ten main headings in total, and each of these carrying their own subheadings when selected. This wide variety of content seems to link to Barnhurst’s (2009) suggestion that the rise of the internet has had an effect on the content of online news in comparison to print, and it would seem here that The Times Online can offer more of a range of content within these headings on its website than a print newspaper might.
Another aspect of the featured content is a ‘Video’ section that offers a large supply of recent videos that relate to popular news stories. From a technical perspective, Flanders suggests that when a website features a video element, the video should not automatically play when the page loads, but instead wait to be clicked. The Time Online utilizes this effect by presenting their videos as static images until the user chooses to click to watch them. Another option available to users of The Times Online, although not featured so heavily as the video aspect, is the choice to listen to audio podcasts that relate to the websites stories. This mixture of video and audio that wouldn’t be available in a print newspaper shows The Times Online adapting to the unique features of the internet and therefore making use of the webs multimedia capability. (Sundar 2000)
Another multimedia aspect that The Times Online has available to them is the option of users becoming interactive. Morris and Ogan (1996 cited Chung 2004) call interactivity the key advantage of new media. The Times Online allows for its users to comment on news stories and share their opinions regarding public affairs and recent matters. Chung (2004) proposes that interactive features provide multidirectional communication, and this can indeed be seen on The Times Online through the variety of ways in which people can communicate their feelings regarding a story, as well as to each other.
Another aspect of this interactivity is the website’s ‘Live Chat’ section, where users and visitors of the site can talk on a live feed to other users via an instant messaging system. The chats are arranged for when an important event is happening to do with current affairs or television, or debates that are taking place, allowing for a sharing of public opinions, and therefore creating user generated content (UGC) on the site itself. Walter (2008) suggests that UGC is a powerful tool when used in the right situations, and Nofrina et al (2008 cited Poorisat et al 2009) proposes that it can lead to the website gaining more credibility against its competitors and with its users. Walter (2008) also refers to the fact that UGC can appear in many different shapes and sizes. The Times Online prove this by coupling their live chat forums with a section in which users can have their own letters published to the site. This allows their users to have their say on the things that interest them the most.
In conclusion it would seem that The Times Online presents itself to its users as a very successful website. It utilizes tools such as SEO (Kharbanda 2006) and dependable navigation (Lawrence and Tavakol 2007) to create easy access to itself and its content, with little confusion. Its strong usability allows for visitors to read the news and explore the recent happenings in the world, enjoying the site without concentrating on how to use it, as Lawrence and Tavakol (2007) suggest would have a negative effect. Its design features, interactivity with visitors and use of UGC give it a dynamic, professional appeal, and show, as Sundar (2000) suggests, that by adapting to the unique features of a different medium, the webs multimedia capabilities can be put to excellent use.
References
Branhurst, K. (2009) The Internet and News: Chnages in Content on Newspaper Websites. Conference Papers – International Communication Association. p1-19
Chung, D. (2004) Into Interactivity? How News Websites Use Interactive Featueres. Conference Papers – International Communication Association. p1-48
Flanders, V. Web Pages That Suck. Available from: http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com [Accessed on 4/3/10]
Grappone, J & Couzin, G. (2008) Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day. Wiley Publishing : New Jersey.
Kharbanda, S. (2006) Web Advertising Acceptability and Usefulness: Attaining Top Positions On Search Engines Is More Cost Effective Than a Yellow Page or Directory Listing. Journal of Website Promotion. Vol.2 p185-194
Lawrence, D. & Tavakol, S. (2007) Balanced Website Design: Optimising Aesthetics, Usability and Purpose. Springer : London
Nielsen, J. (1993) Usability Engineering. Academic Press : San Diego
Poorisat, T., Detenber, B., Viswanathan, V. & Nofrina, H. (2009) Perceptions of Credibility: A Comparison of User-Generated and Expert-Generated Websites. Conference Papers – International Communication Association. p1-29
Sauman, C., Nora, P. & Ruel, L. (2009) Using Eye Tracking Technology To Examine The Effectiveness Of Deisgn Elements On News Websites. Information Design Journal (IDJ) Vol. 17 p31-43
Sundar, S. (2000) Multimedia Effects On Processing and Perception of Online News: A Study of Picture, Audio and Video Downloads. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. Vol.77 p480-499
The Times Online. Available from http://thetimesonline.co.uk [Accessed on 4/3/10]
Thurow, S. & Musica, N. (2009) When Search Meets Web Usability. New Riders : Berkeley
Walter, A. (2008) Building Findable Websites: Web Standards, SEO and Beyond. New Riders : Berkeley
May 9, 2010 at 3:09 pm
[...] May 9, 2010 The Times Online is the online base for The Times newspaper, and as part of our Web Communication unit we were asked to write a critical analysis of it. Below is simply the opening of my essay, but you can read the entire document here. [...]