Regardless of your platform or theme, learn best practices to make your news website stand out with these 50 tips.

1. 50
Logan Aimone, MJE // School Newspapers Online
TIPSTO IMPROVE YOUR WEBSITE
Tuesday, March 18, 14

2. 50
TIPSORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
Tuesday, March 18, 14

3. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Publish often.
Don’t be tied to print
publication dates. The website
should be used to communicate
news immediately.
Go online first.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
1
Tuesday, March 18, 14

4. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Consume online journalism.
Pay attention to how you read
it, what works and what doesn’t.
Figure out how to emulate the
models you like.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
2
Tuesday, March 18, 14

5. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Consume online journalism.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
2
Tuesday, March 18, 14

6. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Consume online journalism.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
2
Tuesday, March 18, 14

7. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Plan for breaking news.
Have a plan so your staff is
ready to report immediately and
add to coverage as time allows.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
3
Tuesday, March 18, 14

8. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Plan for breaking news.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
3
Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Mo.
thekirkwoodcall.com
Tuesday, March 18, 14

9. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Trim the categories.
Only include those categories in
your navigation bar or on your
homepage to which you publish
regularly.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
4
Tuesday, March 18, 14

10. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Trim the categories.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
4
Tuesday, March 18, 14

11. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
One category
per story.
Assign a story to
just one category,
either a parent or
child. Stories
should not show
up in multiple
places on the
homepage.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
5
Tuesday, March 18, 14

12. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Include widgets that make
sense.
Content categories, polls, most
popular stories, video/photo
streams.
Reconsider weather widgets —
no one relies on your website
for a weather report.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
6
Tuesday, March 18, 14

13. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Create a clear hierarchy on
your homepage.
Help your reader know what’s
important.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
7
Tuesday, March 18, 14

14. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Redesign your homepage for
special events/reports.
Understand why the viewer is
coming to your site that day.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
8
Tuesday, March 18, 14

15. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Redesign your homepage for
special events/reports.
ORGANIZING THE HOME PAGE
8
Benilde-St. Margaret’s School
St. Louis Park, Minn.
bsmknighterrant.com
Tuesday, March 18, 14

16. 50
TIPSDISPLAYING CONTENT
Tuesday, March 18, 14

17. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Tabs or indents are not
necessary.
WordPress will insert space
between paragraphs to indicate
a break.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
9
Tuesday, March 18, 14

18. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Link related stories together.
Use a related stories box,
hyperlinks or chapters to
provide backstory to the reader.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
10
Tuesday, March 18, 14

19. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use contextual linking within
your stories.
Direct the reader to explanatory
pages, source documents or
more information.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
11
Tuesday, March 18, 14

20. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use relative paths for all links
within your site.
This means just the part after
the domain name and slash
(start with the slash)
www.yourdomain.com/news/majorstory
/news/majorstory
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
12
Tuesday, March 18, 14

21. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use short links, not URLs. Even
better, use relative short links.
This makes it easy to find stories
even if the headline or category
change.
www.yourdomain.com/?p=1234
/?p=1234
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
13
Tuesday, March 18, 14

22. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Your main image should be set
as your Featured Image.
This ensures an image will come
up with the category widget
and will be more likely to be
seen on the homepage or
category page.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
14
Tuesday, March 18, 14

23. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Separate the writer’s name into
a custom field.
This helps with search and
organizing the site because the
byline won’t show up as the
preview text.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
15
Tuesday, March 18, 14

24. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use original images.
(or at least Creative Commons
images with appropriate “share”
qualities)
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
16
Tuesday, March 18, 14

25. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Add captions (and credits) to
all photos.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
17
Tuesday, March 18, 14

26. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Be an editor. Curate only the
best images for a gallery or
slideshow.
Don’t add dozens of photos just
because you can. Avoid poor
quality or repetitive images.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
18
Tuesday, March 18, 14

27. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Have a plan for tags, which
allow readers to quickly search
for related content.
Use tags for recurring people
and topics, and to cross-
categorize. Tag clouds don’t
help much.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
19
Tuesday, March 18, 14

28. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Have a plan for tags, which
allow readers to quickly search
for related content.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
19
Tuesday, March 18, 14

29. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Humor and lighter content can
bring readers to your site.
Once they are there, have more
substantial content for them to
discover.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
20
Tuesday, March 18, 14

30. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Embed Web elements for
interactivity.
https://www.thinglink.com/
http://infogr.am/
http://prezi.com/
http://www.easel.ly/
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
21
Tuesday, March 18, 14

31. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Embed Web elements for
interactivity.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
21
Grosse Pointe North HS
Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.
mygpn.com
Tuesday, March 18, 14

32. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Embed Web elements for
interactivity.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
21
Tuesday, March 18, 14

33. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Embed Web elements for
interactivity.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
21
Tuesday, March 18, 14

34. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use text as needed.
Videos and pictures can tell a
full story.
ORGANIZING & DISPLAYING CONTENT
22
Tuesday, March 18, 14

35. 50
TIPSUNPUBLISHED CONTENT
Tuesday, March 18, 14

36. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use the Paste as Plain Text tool.
Avoid awkward characters and
formatting.
MANAGING UNPUBLISHED CONTENT
23
Tuesday, March 18, 14

37. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use the Paste as Plain Text tool.
Avoid awkward characters and
formatting.
MANAGING UNPUBLISHED CONTENT
23
Tuesday, March 18, 14

38. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Resize your photos before
uploading and use Photoshop’s
Save for Web option.
This guarantees faster load
times because only the essential
information is stored.
MANAGING UNPUBLISHED CONTENT
24
Tuesday, March 18, 14

39. 50
TIPSDESIGN PRACTICES
Tuesday, March 18, 14

40. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Select a color scheme that
evokes your school but doesn’t
necessarily match it.
Colors for sports uniforms don’t
always look good online.
DESIGN PRACTICES
25
Tuesday, March 18, 14

41. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Select a good color scheme.
DESIGN PRACTICES
25
Community HS, Ann Arbor, Mich.
www.chscommunicator.com
Peninsula HS, Gig Harbor, Wash.
www.phsoutlook.com
Tuesday, March 18, 14

42. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Select a good color scheme.
DESIGN PRACTICES
25
Lewisville (Texas) HS
www.farhar.net
Manchester (Ct.) HS
www.mhsredline.com
Tuesday, March 18, 14

43. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
The Web has all colors.
Don’t use black and white
photos.
DESIGN PRACTICES
26
Tuesday, March 18, 14

44. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use horizontal photos.
Vertical images are not as
Web-friendly as horizontal
images in most themes.
Vertical or square images might
be awkwardly cropped.
DESIGN PRACTICES
27
Tuesday, March 18, 14

45. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use horizontal photos.
DESIGN PRACTICES
27
Tuesday, March 18, 14

46. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use horizontal photos.
DESIGN PRACTICES
27
Lots of empty space
from an irregular
photo size.
Tuesday, March 18, 14

47. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use horizontal photos.
DESIGN PRACTICES
27
Face is cropped
from photo.
Tuesday, March 18, 14

48. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Design applies to the home
page and the story page.
Consider “the look” of each
story.
Don’t just use the default
template.
DESIGN PRACTICES
28
Tuesday, March 18, 14

49. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use other material (B-roll, pics,
pull quotes, ads, related links)
to keep the reader’s attention
on the story page.
DESIGN PRACTICES
29
Tuesday, March 18, 14

50. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Design a favicon.
Find instructions online to
create a 16x16 pixel icon to
insert into your header code.
DESIGN PRACTICES
30
Tuesday, March 18, 14

51. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Go wild! Design a bullet point
image.
You can add code to use an
image or character.
DESIGN PRACTICES
31
Tuesday, March 18, 14

52. 50
TIPSTECHNICAL TIPS
Tuesday, March 18, 14

53. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Don’t use FTP for file sharing or
storage.
A site like Dropbox or Google
Drive/Docs is made for these
purposes.
TECHNICAL TIPS
32
Tuesday, March 18, 14

54. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Prevent your site from being
hacked by performing updates
to WordPress, theme and
plugins.
TECHNICAL TIPS
33
Tuesday, March 18, 14

55. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use plugins sparingly because
they slow the speed at which
the site loads.
TECHNICAL TIPS
34
Tuesday, March 18, 14

56. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use the iframe embed code,
not plugins, for YouTube,
Vimeo, Issuu.
If the plugin is deactivated, the
rest of your site will not be
affected.
TECHNICAL TIPS
35
Tuesday, March 18, 14

57. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use responsive design because
a site will be viewed on
multiple devices.
TECHNICAL TIPS
36
Tuesday, March 18, 14

58. 50
TIPSSTAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
Tuesday, March 18, 14

59. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Have a key student responsible
for the website with a title and
position equivalent to
managing editor or editor in
chief.
There are multiple
configurations, but the website
should not be an afterthought
or a clerical position.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
37
Tuesday, March 18, 14

60. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Develop a social media editor
position.
Have that person be an expert
in social media. Teach the other
staff members. Develop and
implement policies.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
38
Tuesday, March 18, 14

61. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use Google Analytics to learn
about your audience.
Who’s visiting?
When?
What did they look at?
For how long?
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
39
Tuesday, March 18, 14

62. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use Google Analytics to learn
about your audience.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
39
Infrequent posting
then content dump.
Tuesday, March 18, 14

63. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use Google Analytics to learn
about your audience.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
39
Steady weekday traffic
Tuesday, March 18, 14

64. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Develop and implement a
comments policy.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
40
Tuesday, March 18, 14

65. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Push your staff. Write more.
Gain followers. Try new things.
Set goals based on analytics
results.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
41
Tuesday, March 18, 14

66. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Accept local advertisements to
create revenue.
Combine with print for a
package.
Use analytics to pitch to certain
advertisers.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
42
Tuesday, March 18, 14

67. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Install an AdSense widget on
your site to create revenue.
This will serve ads to users
based on their browser history,
and you can limit to broad
categories.
STAFF & CLASS MANAGEMENT
43
Tuesday, March 18, 14

68. 50
TIPSPROMOTIONS
Tuesday, March 18, 14

69. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use the same social media as
your audience. Follow all
students, teachers and coaches.
Use as a source for promotion
via sharing.
Use as a source for potential
news and story ideas.
PROMOTIONS
44
Tuesday, March 18, 14

70. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Use your Twitter feed to tease
to your website.
You don’t need your feed on the
site unless it is sharing news
that is not on your site.
PROMOTIONS
45
Tuesday, March 18, 14

71. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Consider having more than one
Twitter feed that brings new
news to the site.
A sports account for live tweets
at sporting events helps for
those who might be interested
(while not annoying those who
aren’t).
PROMOTIONS
46
Tuesday, March 18, 14

72. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
QR codes can link print
material to the Web — and
drive traffic.
PROMOTIONS
47
Tuesday, March 18, 14

73. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Post your links on Google Plus
to increase prominence of your
stories in the search results.
PROMOTIONS
48
Tuesday, March 18, 14

74. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Send original Tweets and
Facebook posts to create
traffic.
Have a personality, not
an auto-feed.
PROMOTIONS
49
Tuesday, March 18, 14

75. 50 TIPS
TO IMPROVE
YOUR WEBSITE
Broaden your audience beyond
students and parents.
Use Reddit or other social
media to share and discuss
articles.
PROMOTIONS
50
Tuesday, March 18, 14

76. Logan Aimone, MJE // School Newspapers Online
logan@snosites.com schoolnewspapersonline.com
QUESTIONS?FIRE AWAY.
Tuesday, March 18, 14