Matt Larson, President and CEO of Our-Hometown Web Publishing, met with Betsy Edwards, Executive Director of the Virginia Press Association (VPA), to prepare for an upcoming webinar aimed at other press associations. The discussion covered the planned presentation for the webinar, which will highlight the success of Virginia’s Digital Initiative in getting print newspapers online.

Key topics included the initiative’s results (increased page views and revenue), case studies, Our-Hometown’s turnkey solution, and the critical importance of newspapers having an online presence, particularly in the context of public notices and legislative advocacy. Betsy provided extensive context on the challenges faced by newspapers without websites, the strategic role of statewide public notice platforms, and the legislative efforts to protect public notice revenue in a rapidly digitizing media landscape. The meeting also touched upon the need for timely online news updates and the difficulties in pricing digital advertising and public notices.

Webinar Preparation & Agenda Overview

Matt Larson initiated the discussion by outlining the plan for an upcoming webinar aimed at other press associations. He proposed using a modified version of a previous presentation, emphasizing a free-form discussion format. He noted the current low registration (only Jen Madden from South Carolina) and suggested the initial meeting might be a more intimate conversation between Betsy and him.

Virginia’s Digital Initiative: Goals & Results

Matt detailed the proposed structure for the webinar, starting with introductions and an overview from Betsy on the Virginia Press Association’s (VPA) goals for the program. He would then present Our-Hometown’s results from the initiative, focusing on the six participating papers. The key metric for success would be comparing page views and revenue from the most recent six months against the first six months of their online presence.

Digital Success Stories: Career Record & Rappahannock Times

Matt highlighted specific success stories from the Virginia initiative. The Career Record was identified as a leader in digital revenue and subscribers, while the Rappahannock Times showed significant increases in page views. He suggested that these publishers could potentially join future meetings to share their experiences directly.

Expanding the Initiative: Illinois & Kansas Examples

To demonstrate the broader applicability and proven track record of the digital initiative, Matt introduced examples from other states. He mentioned the Illinois Press Association, which has launched four sites hosting five papers, and the Kansas initiative, featuring the Galena Sentinel Times. This context aims to show that the concept has been successfully implemented elsewhere.

Our-Hometown’s Turnkey Solution & Member Benefits

Matt elaborated on Our-Hometown’s offering, describing it as a “turnkey solution” for press association members. He explained that the initiative provides perpetual discounts for members, regardless of whether the association chooses to fund the websites directly. The presentation would cover essential website features, mention Our-Hometown’s ad network, and outline the simple process for getting started.

The Critical Need for Newspaper Websites

Betsy underscored the urgent problem of many newspapers, particularly in other states, lacking any online presence. She highlighted that some states have “dozens of papers with no websites,” emphasizing the critical need for initiatives like Our-Hometown’s to bring these publications into the digital age.

Public Notices: The Shift to Digital & Atlanta Journal-Constitution Case

Betsy discussed the evolving landscape of public notices, which are traditionally a significant revenue source for print newspapers. She noted that public notices are becoming increasingly important for online news sites as well. A major development cited was the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s decision to go entirely digital by December 31st, signaling a broader trend that necessitates online capabilities for all newspapers.

Virginia’s Public Notice Law & Statewide Website

Betsy explained Virginia’s proactive legislative efforts, specifically a 2019 bill that maintained public notices in newspapers while adding crucial digital requirements. This law mandates that newspapers with websites must advertise public notices from their landing page, ensure they are accessible in front of any paywall, and submit them to the VPA’s statewide public notice website.

The VPA Statewide Public Notice Platform

Betsy provided a detailed overview of the Virginia Press Association’s statewide public notice website, which utilizes a platform developed by the Illinois Press Association. She explained that this platform ensures public notices are available in three places: print, the individual newspaper’s website (in front of a paywall), and the statewide website, which is keyword searchable and free. This comprehensive approach helps counter arguments from legislators about public access to information.

Newspaper Sustainability & Legislative Influence

Betsy passionately argued that newspapers must embrace digital platforms for long-term sustainability. She stressed that without a website, newspapers cannot effectively compete in 2025, reach younger audiences, or maintain credibility with legislators. Being perceived as “stuck in another century” undermines their position, especially when advocating for the retention of public notice revenue.

Countering Legislative Challenges to Public Notices

Betsy recounted how the VPA successfully addressed long-standing complaints from local governments regarding the cost of public notices in print. By implementing the 2019 law that included online posting requirements and the statewide website, the VPA effectively “shut them up” on the issue, countering proposals to move public notices solely to local government websites, which are less accessible and less effective.

Debunking Public Notice Cost Myths

Betsy presented compelling data to debunk the myth that public notices are an exorbitant cost for local governments. Citing a 2016 survey, she showed that for a large city like Virginia Beach, the annual cost of public notices ($70,000) was negligible compared to its $2.6 billion budget, equating to only $0.58 per person. This data reinforces the value and affordability of keeping public notices in newspapers.

The Imperative of Timely Online News Updates

Betsy emphasized the critical need for newspapers, particularly weeklies, to update their news online between print editions. She argued that in today’s fast-paced news cycle, waiting for the next print run means losing out to other media, like TV websites, for breaking news. An online presence allows newspapers to provide immediate updates and remain the go-to source for local information.

Integrating Public Notices with the Digital Initiative

Matt considered the possibility of Our-Hometown assisting states with their public notice websites as part of the digital initiative. Betsy clarified that while many states already have statewide public notice platforms (often using the Illinois model), the more pressing need is to get the “hundreds and hundreds” of small newspapers online and ensure that Our-Hometown’s client papers are properly feeding their public notices into these existing statewide systems.

States with High Numbers of Offline Newspapers

Betsy identified several rural states, including Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Montana, as having a significant number of newspapers that still lack websites. She noted that these small papers, often with only 300-400 readers, mistakenly believe they cannot justify the cost of a website, despite the clear benefits for their survival and relevance.

Competition from Online-Only News Sites & Virginia’s Response

Betsy discussed the growing competition from new online-only, often nonprofit, news websites. She explained that Virginia proactively passed a law allowing these online-only sites to publish public notices, but with strict guardrails. These qualifications include requirements for circuit court audits, proof of local government coverage, and local reporters, preventing unqualified “bloggers” from scooping this revenue.

Strategic Legislative Engagement for Press Associations

Betsy provided insights into effective legislative strategy, emphasizing the importance of press associations working with legislators to draft favorable bills rather than simply opposing unfavorable ones. She highlighted the realities of part-time legislators, “horse-trading,” and the need to educate them on complex issues like public notices, ensuring the industry’s interests are protected.

Protecting Future Revenue: The Online-Only Transition

Betsy cited the example of Tom La Paz, a long-time weekly newspaper owner who transitioned to online-only during COVID and became a proponent of the new Virginia law. This case illustrates the future trend of newspapers moving entirely online, and the legislation ensures that these digital-first publications can retain public notice revenue, protecting the industry’s financial future.

Challenges in Pricing Digital Public Notices

Betsy pointed out a significant challenge: newspapers often struggle to price digital public notices effectively. Accustomed to print-based pricing models (e.g., by size), they tend to drastically undercharge for online notices (e.g., $100 online vs. $300 print). She warned that once a low price is set, it’s difficult to increase it, leading to lost revenue.

Conclusion: The Undeniable Value of Going Digital

Matt and Betsy concluded the discussion by reiterating their shared conviction that there is “no downside” and “only good” in newspapers establishing an online presence. They agreed that while there was once uncertainty, the industry has moved past questioning the necessity of digital, reinforcing the core message and urgency of Our-Hometown’s Digital Initiative.

The post Our-Hometown Digital Initiative: Pre-Webinar Discussion with Virginia Press Association first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Internal links may seem simple; however, they are an incredibly powerful tool for improving your website’s SEO. By effectively using links between pages on your site, you can enhance user experience, help search engines better understand your content, and distribute “link equity” to pages you want to rank higher.

What Are Internal Links?: A hyperlink that connects two pages within the same domain is an internal link. For example, if you have a blog post that links to your “About” page or product category pages, those are internal links. They allow users to naturally navigate through your site.

Benefits of Internal Links

Here are some of the major benefits of using internal links as part of your SEO strategy:

• Improves Crawlability: Internal links create a pathway for search engine crawlers to fully explore your site. By linking pages together, you ensure search engines can find and index all of your content. This helps maximize your pages’ chances of ranking.
• Enhances User Experience: Well-structured links allow visitors to easily navigate and find related content on your site. This improves engagement and time-on-site. Happy users equal better SEO!
• Distributes Equity: Internal links pass “link equity” between pages. Additionally, linking to a lower-ranking page from a higher-ranking page gives the lower-ranking page a boost. This allows you to strategically elevate target pages.
• Provides Context: Descriptive anchor text within these links gives search engines insight into how pages relate. This can improve relevance and rankings for keyword-focused content.

Let’s take a look at several case studies illustrating these benefits!

Case Studies

Uproer

In this case study from Uproer, sharing how their client, IFTTT, drove 33% Y/Y organic traffic growth by making internal linking a priority.

Here are several tactics pursued with IFTTT:

• Moving JavaScript internal links to server-side
• HTML Sitemaps
• Redesign pages to include internal links 
• Combine content plan with internal linking strategy
• Remove nofollow from important internal links

Extrapolate out the performance of your pages that are indexed (and, perhaps, have at least some crawlable internal links). Model out a few scenarios that illustrate the value to be gained given improvements to indexing.

Hypothetical: If we improve our indexing rate from 60% to 80%, we can expect a 15% lift in traffic which equates to $350,000 in annual conversion value.

Get Back to Basics with an HTML Sitemap

An HTML sitemap is typically a super feasible ask from a development perspective and can be an incredibly effective internal link asset.

The launch of IFTTT’s HTML sitemap delivered nearly a 3x increase in indexed pages in the span of two weeks.

Pursue a Content Plan that Prioritizes Internal Linking

Building internal links should be an ongoing SEO strategy, not just a one-time activity.

• Internal links help get content discovered and indexed by search engines by creating pathways for crawlers.
• They build topical authority on a site by connecting relevant pages around key subjects.
• Internal links improve keyword rankings by signaling importance between semantically related content.
• Regular internal linking helps search bots efficiently crawl and classify new content.
• High SEO potential pages should be prioritized for internal link building to maximize search performance.

While we can’t pretend to present a complete internal linking strategy based on these studies, the data does hint at some possible best practices and optimizations.

ZyppySEO

This study looked at 23 million internal links across 1,800 websites, representing approximately 520,000 individual URLs. This data was then compared to that from Google Search Console to determine search clicks for each URL.

Results

1. More internal links are associated with higher traffic, but only to a point.

2. Sitewide/navigation links seem to have a powerful effect, mostly on larger, high-authority sites. The effectiveness is less clear on small, lower-authority sites.
3. Anchor text variety is highly correlated with higher search traffic.

2. Naked URL anchors (links without anchor text, but just the url itself) don’t seem to hurt and, in fact, are associated with more traffic.
3. At least some exact match anchors are associated with significantly higher traffic.

Seer Interactive

The Internal Linking Test

Observation: Internal links can have a positive impact on keyword rankings.

Research: I found some information from doing a few searches, but nothing that made me feel completely confident that this MIGHT work.

Hypothesis #1: By adding internal links from various pages to key pages (product pages in this case) we can improve conversion rates, increase transactions and revenue, and lower the percentage of visitors not visiting a product page.

Hypothesis #2: If I can find 3 to 5 opportunities to internally link to a page with the exact same anchor text, rankings would improve by 1 to 3 positions (which would be a big win for the queries I was targeting and the difference between page 1 and page 2 of SERPS).

Client 1 (Hypothesis 1 test): Surfaced over 80 internal linking opportunities targeting to increasing internal links to product pages/product category pages within two hours. This didn’t require anything from our client except for the action of logging into their CMS and applying the link we provided to their existing content (no content changes were made).

Client 2 (Hypothesis 2 test): Surfaced over 30 internal linking opportunities to increase internal links to 10 different pages with 10 different anchor texts. This didn’t require anything from our client except for the action of logging into their CMS and applying the link we provided to their existing content (no content changes were made).

Results

Hypothesis 1 Results: This one is probably not surprising, but my hypothesis was correct. By adding 80+ internal links from various pages (FAQs, blogs, etc) and comparing two weeks pre- implementations vs. two weeks post-implementation we saw:

• +192% increase in CVR (conversion rate)
• +76% increase in transactions
• +116% increase in revenue
• +23% increase in page views to Product pages
• Lowered percentage of visitors not viewing product pages by 58%

All stats above are Organic-channel specific

Hypothesis 2 Results: Somewhat to my surprise, this hypothesis was also correct! By adding internal links with the same anchor text and comparing two weeks pre- implementations vs, two weeks post-implementation we saw:

• Keyword rankings improve by an average of 2.5 positions (anchor text are the keywords that were tracked)
• CVR (conversion rate) of pages that were being linked to improved by +7.5%
• Transactions on pages that were being linked to improved by +13%

All stats above are Organic-channel specific

Make internal linking a proactive tactic in your content strategy and you’ll realize SEO gains more quickly and efficiently!

Take a look our SEO features page learn more about how to use the OHT platform’s SEO features to learn more about optimizing your internal linking strategy!

References

• https://www.theseosprint.com/p/internal-linking-case-studies
• https://uproer.com/articles/ifttt-saas-case-study/
• https://zyppy.com/seo/internal-links/seo-study/
• https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/the-value-of-internal-links
• https://moz.com/learn/seo/internal-link

The post The Power of Internal Links for SEO first appeared on Our-Hometown.

The following column was contributed by our friend and industry expert, Kevin Slimp!

Yesterday, I returned from a trip to New York, where I spoke at the New York Press Association (NYPA) Convention for two days. I was reminded that I spoke at my first NYPA convention 28 years ago. Time flies.

Unlike many conventions where I’m the only speaker – or maybe one of two – NYPA has four to six speakers making presentations during each time slot. That means not everyone makes it to one of my sessions during the convention. As a result, I often found myself involved in conversations with publishers and others who came by my room immediately after a session or approached me during a “meet and greet” to ask for my advice.

The conversations generally begin with something like, “I wasn’t able to attend any of your sessions,” as if the questioner felt the need to apologize. I tried to assure them that was fine. After all, you can’t be everywhere at once. I met with one publisher who runs a one-person shop. He writes the stories, sells the ads, designs the paper, and pays the bills. I met others who owned several large dailies and weeklies in the state.

Here are some of the things we discussed:

The publisher running a newspaper alone brought his paper and asked me to look it over, hoping I could offer a little advice. I suggested he use a different body font (I believe he was using Minion) and a larger text size. I recommended he use a 10-point Nimrod. I assured him if that was the only change he made, readers would be writing to praise him after the first issue. I also suggested he use smaller borders around photos. Probably a .3 or .4 frame rather than a 1-point border. I knew he had his hands full getting a paper out by himself. I figured that was enough advice for one day.

I met with another publisher – who attended my classes with her page designer – for about 30 minutes, and we looked over her newspaper. We discussed several potential improvements. The most important, in my opinion, was to put the flag on top of the front page to rest and create a new flag for her newspaper. Redesigning as many newspapers as I do, I’ve learned people can be protective of their flags, and rightly so. While newspapers should undergo a redesign every 5-7 years, the flag identifies the newspaper and shouldn’t be discarded at a whim. However, as was the case with this paper, sometimes a flag looks too outdated and can be a distraction – or even turn off – a reader. We also discussed the importance of creating a consistent look on each newspaper page. When our conversation ended, I felt confident they would go home after the conference to begin working on these changes.

Two owners of larger groups approached me separately. One asked about training for their papers. Where can they find training directed toward newspaper staff, and what training would be most helpful? Both asked about redesigns. One mentioned it had been a long time since her papers had gone through a redesign process. I suggested there’s never a wrong time to begin redesigning a newspaper. You don’t have to wait for an expert to guide the process, although that’s always helpful when possible. Any newspaper can gather the staff together and begin discussing the most urgent redesign issues and develop ways to start upgrading a publication.

Perhaps my favorite conversation while in New York was with Chip Rowe, editor of The Highlands Current (THC), which was named co-winner of the 2023 “Best Newspaper Award.” THC tied with The Times Union of Albany, winning 24 awards at the convention. I spent three days with Chip two years ago, holding focus groups and meeting with staff members of THC. Chip reminded me of the work we did while I was in his community, meeting with multiple focus groups and offering advice to his staff. He shared that he felt like those focus groups and minutes spent together contributed to the success THC is experiencing. I write a lot about focus groups in my columns and advise most clients to hold focus groups annually. It’s always nice to hear that the information garnered from such gatherings leads to improvements at newspapers.

After leading seven sessions over two days, my body reminded me I’m not as young as I was before COVID, or maybe I’m just out of practice standing all day. I returned home, however, as I always seem to from newspaper conferences, refreshed and inspired by the work being done by newspapers of all sizes. Today’s free press is just as important, if not more, than ever.

The post Questions posed by New York publishers first appeared on Our-Hometown.

The AddToAny icons are enabled on our websites by default, so you’ve likely seen these icons when browsing through your online content:

While these icons are pretty straight forward and certainly serve their purpose adequately, you may not be aware that you can customize this set of icons in a couple of ways to better suit your website and audience.

Selecting Your Social Networks

Importantly, AddToAny includes support for a large number of social networks and other platforms to which readers are able to share content to. Many of these options are lesser-known alternatives, but rest assured that all of your major social networks are supported:

Through the AddToAny settings page, you can add, remove and re-order the icons that you want to appear with each piece of content on your website.

By default, you will find Facebook, Twitter, Email, Messenger and SMS buttons enabled, along with a simple Copy Link option for manual sharing. Depending on your audience, it may make sense to enable additional options that are popular among your demographic, such as Reddit or LinkedIn.

Customizing Button Appearance

In addition to being able to modify which sharing icons are included, you can also customize the appearance of the buttons. After all, the default set of icons I’ve included above is quite vibrant with bright shades of blue & green, and may look out of place on some websites.

Fortunately AddToAny includes support for changing the size and color of the sharing icons! The following settings are available on the settings page:

The background and foreground options allow you to set custom colors for those parts of the icon.

If your site is using a primarily red color scheme, then blue and green icons probably don’t look very natural. You can set the background color to red, and the foreground color to white to achieve the following:

You can also adjust the size of the icons in pixels should you ever want to make the icons larger or smaller.

Miscellaneous Settings

There are a couple of other customization options that are pretty straight forward to further change how the AddToAny buttons appear on your site.

The Sharing Header allows you to add a short header message above the icons alerting the readers to their purpose.

The Universal Button adds an extra icon to the stack that, when clicked, allows the reader to choose from the entire allotment of supported social networks rather than just the few defaults you’ve activated.

There is also an option for Floating Icons, which anchor themselves to the side of the screen on desktop computers and scroll along with the reader, providing quick access to share the article.

If you’re interested in changing the look of the Social Sharing Icons on your website, feel free to reach out to our support team at any time by emailing ops@our-hometown.com! We’d be happy to help customize your icons.

The post Customize your sharing icons with AddToAny first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Our recent webinar focused on Search Engine Optimization for news publishers and highlighted various techniques for optimizing your website’s structure and content in order to improve visibility and ranking on popular search engines.

We also cover several new topics since last year’s webinar, including helpful content and spam updates from Google, as well as a look at AI-generated content and how it may effect search results.

Video Chapters

00:00:00 – Intro
00:01:13 – Agenda
00:01:53 – Google’s Helpful Content Updates
00:03:21 – Machine Learning (HCU)
00:05:42 – Clues in Google’s Announcement
00:08:51 – Our-Hometown’s Related Stories Feature
00:11:15 – Google’s Link Spam Updates
00:13:46 – E.E.A.T.
00:27:06 – Schema Markup
00:31:09 – AI-Generated Content
00:34:37 – AI in Search Results
00:37:35 – AI Wrong Answer
00:39:31 – ChatGPT4 & New Bing
00:42:01 – AI for News Content Generation
00:48:26 – Live ChatGPT Example
00:56:23 – Q&A Time

If you follow internet and technology trends, you’ve probably already heard of ChatGPT — the artificial intelligence “chatbot” developed by OpenAI that has been dominating headlines for a variety of reasons since its launch in November of 2022.

ChatGPT and similar services such as Jasper.AI, LaMDA and Apprentice Bard are changing the future of searching for information, prompting companies like Google and Microsoft to invest heavily in their technologies.

These AI chatbots mimic human conversation, but have the research and processing power of your favorite search engine behind every response. You can ask the AI essentially whatever you want, and you’ll receive a detailed and informative response that is generated by examining hundreds or thousands of known sources to collect and compile information that is relevant to your query.

It’s like a search engine on steroids.

On the flipside, these tools can also be used to produce brand new content simply by asking them to do so: “ChatGPT, can you write an article about the World Series winning Houston Astros team?”

Of course, as with any new technologies, there are a few limitations. For example, ChatGPT includes a disclaimer stating that it only looks at information through 2021 and that any more recent information will not be included.

There have also been instances of some of these AI tools simply reporting inaccurate information, which means it is still important to do your own fact-checking.

Still, some media companies have already begun publishing AI-generated news content, which raises questions on just how accurate their information is, whether search engines will be able to detect AI-generated content vs human-generated content, and how each piece of information will be ranked.

For newspaper publishers, practicing strong SEO techniques is essential for remaining competitive in the digital age. With so much content available online, it can be difficult to stand out and attract readers to your site. By implementing some of these techniques, you can ensure that your website is optimized to appear at the top of relevant search engine results, making it easier for potential readers to find your content.

The post AI Technologies and SEO for News Publishers – Webinar Replay first appeared on Our-Hometown.

The presentation will focus on Search Engine Optimization for news publishers and will highlight various techniques for optimizing your website’s structure and content in order to improve visibility and ranking on popular search engines.

Michael will also cover several new topics since last year’s webinar, including helpful content and spam updates from Google, as well as a look at AI-generated content and how it may effect search results.

For newspaper publishers, practicing strong SEO techniques is essential for remaining competitive in the digital age. With so much content available online, it can be difficult to stand out and attract readers to your site. By implementing some of these techniques, you can ensure that your website is optimized to appear at the top of relevant search engine results, making it easier for potential readers to find your content.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions, share their own experiences, and network with other publishers in the industry. The cost of attendance is a small fee of $25 per person, which includes access to the live webinar, as well as a recording of the session for later viewing upon request.

Our-Hometown customers and members of our partnered Press Associations are eligible to attend for free. Just designate your affiliation during registration to activate the discount!

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the importance of SEO for newspaper publishers and gain practical tips for implementing strong SEO techniques on your website. Register below to secure your seat today!

Register Now

The post SEO for Newspapers LIVE WEBINAR set for March 17th first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Earlier this month, I traveled about an hour from my home to conduct focus groups for a weekly newspaper in Tennessee.

Focus groups come in all sizes and shapes. This particular focus group was a little different than most. The paper had gathered 15 seniors – the minimum age requirement was 60 – to spend three hours discussing recent issues of the newspaper and making suggestions about ways to improve the content.

We learned a few things that surprised us, and a few things went as expected. I felt this would be one of the “easiest” focus groups I’ve done. The paper is very successful and continually works to improve its product and meet the needs of its readers. I had a feeling I wouldn’t run into too many angry participants.

As the gathering neared the end, the conversation turned to how many focus group members had moved to the area from other parts of the country. One recently relocated from Massachusetts and noted how surprised she was that the quality of the paper was so much better than what she had grown accustomed to in her previous home. Others who had relocated from other parts of the country echoed in with similar opinions.
Focus group members shared stories of papers in other towns that had “dwindled to nothing.”

They agreed that their weekly paper’s content and overall quality were much better than the metro paper 45 minutes away.

One of the final statements of a group member promises to stay with me.

“Please don’t sell our paper to one of those national groups! We love it and don’t want to see it destroyed.”

Fortunately for her – as well as everyone else in the group – there’s no risk of that.

Most weeks, I meet either in person or online with one or two newspaper staffs to discuss every aspect of the newspaper business. Today, I’m meeting with a group of newspapers in New York to discuss their editorial workflow. A few days ago, I worked with the editors and designers of a paper in another state.

A while back, I had a fascinating meeting with co-publishers of a paper in Florida. As I looked through copies of their newspaper, I was impressed with both the content and design. I correctly guessed that they have a large readership among young adults. It was a very impressive publication from both a design and content standpoint.

I was surprised, however, when I learned that the focus on younger readers hadn’t happened on purpose. It was the result of having a young staff.
Imagine their surprise when I mentioned to the publishers the potential growth of their paper by including more content for older readers.

Most papers would kill – well, not literally – to have readership among young adults. But as I visited with the publishers, it dawned on me they had flipped the readership issue. They had a lot of young readers but were missing the middle-aged and senior markets.

Frankly, I think the paper in Florida is in a very good place. Gaining older readers is probably easier than attracting younger readers to most newspapers. But the method of gaining readers is the same: provide the stories, photos, and content to meet their needs.

I suggested they offer more stories related to health, travel, and human-interest stories. When I visit with most publishers, I suggest they provide more stories related to entertainment, DIY, and other topics of interest to younger readers.

Yes, newspapers still grow. I work with growing papers all the time – just about every day.

My New Toy Arrived – The Latest Mac

A few days ago, Apple announced their new line of Macbook Pro and Mac Mini computers. I have been waiting more than a year for the M2Pro version of the Mac Mini to arrive. Rumors were that we would have the new computer in mid-2022. It was a good exercise in patience for me. As you might guess, I immediately ordered the 10/16 Core model, with 16GB memory and a 512GB hard drive ($1,299 US). The mini arrived two days ago, and I love it.

There are three base models of Mac Minis. I suggest the $799 (8/10 Core, 512GB storage) for reporters. Designers should stick with the 10/16 Core model for $1,299. The $599 model is great for the student or use at home when no serious design work is required.

One final suggestion: don’t dare design pages without a minimum of two monitors. I use 32-inch (6X9 ratio) 4k monitors, and the speed with which I get things done more than pays for the hardware in no time.

The post The Secret to Growing Papers: Give the readers what they want first appeared on Our-Hometown.

That same data can be useful for marketing purposes, such as adjusting advertising costs for specific categories or types of content that attract more readers.

While there are countless techniques for examining visitor trends, a great place to start is the Our-Hometown Stats Platform. 

(All customers on the Our-Hometown WordPress Publishing Platform should have an account to access the OHT Stats Platform. If you do not have an account, or have forgotten your password, please contact us by email at ops@our-hometown.com to request a new login.)

The Our-Hometown Stats Platform records several statistics for measuring your website’s traffic and engagement and allows you to generate a report for a specific time period that you’re interested in analyzing further.

Today, we’re going to take a look at how to identify your website’s most popular stories of 2022.

1. Selecting a Date Filter

When you first log into the stats platform, you’ll notice that by default, each statistic being measured is only showing numbers for the current day you are viewing, i.e. “Today.”

You’ll want to adjust the date filter to display the stats for the entire year.

Near the top of the page, you’ll see a button with a small calendar icon. Click this button to adjust the date filter, and mark the radio button next to “Year.” Once you have select the “Year” option, click on any date on the 2022 calendar to select “2022” as the year you want to view stats for.

Click Apply to save your filter.

2. Finding your Top Stories of the Year

Once you’ve applied your date filter, any stats that you see will be reflective of the entire year. Now, we just need to navigate to a list of our most popular pages and articles.

On the menu to the left, navigate to Behaviour -> Page Titles.

This page will list all of the Articles and Pages that have been visited within the selected time period, identified by the Page/Article Title.

To the right of each Page/Article Title is the number of visitors, unique visitors, the visitor bounce rate, the average time spent on the page per visitor, and a few other useful statistics.

This list will include static pages, such as your homepage, About Us, Contact Us, and other pages that do not change, as well as category pages such as your News, Sports, and Opinion pages.

3. Viewing Only Articles

If you’re not interested in stats for static pages and really only want to see how your published Articles performed, we’ll instead want to navigate to Behaviour -> Pages.

This page is similar to the Page Titles area we viewed before, but you’ll notice that each piece of content is broken down by the content type. For example, you will see the word “articles” listed with a plus sign next to it that you can click to expand the category to see all of the articles that recorded stats in the selected time period.

This is an easy way to filter the content so that you’re only viewing statistics for articles rather than your homepage and other static content pages, which traditionally receive more views than any specific article.

Using these techniques, you can see what types of content attracted the most visitors and kept them engaged and on-site for the longest period of time this year. Your “most popular stories” of 2022 are the stories with the most pageviews and unique pageviews, and you can use this information to help determine where to prioritize your reporting focus in the year ahead.

If you have any questions, e-mail us at ops@our-hometown.com and we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible!

The post Identifying your most popular stories of the year first appeared on Our-Hometown.

Kevin is well-known in the newspaper industry for his wide array of expertise across various stages of the newspaper production process — everything from writing effective headlines and designing effective advertisements to developing an attractive theme and laying out the final product. He leads webinar sessions every month teaching both basic and advanced design concepts in software like Adobe Photoshop and InDesign that are used to produce content.

Needless to say, a one-on-one consultation with Kevin Slimp could be invaluable for your newspaper — and Our-Hometown customers now have this resource for free!

If you’re interested in scheduling a free consultation with Kevin Slimp to talk about your newspaper’s print design, please fill out the form below with your information and indicate what days/times would work best for you.

Please note that you will be required to upload & attach a .PDF of one of your newspaper’s recent editions for Kevin to review ahead of time.

We have more exciting things in the works with Kevin, so keep an eye out for more announcements in the coming weeks!

The post Apply for a free print design consultation with Kevin Slimp! first appeared on Our-Hometown.

In this live webinar, Matt will outline the revenue opportunities in podcasting. From host-read and programmatic advertising, to new subscription tools on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, there have never been more ways to monetize audio. Matt will also demonstrate some of the automated tools for generating audio from text content, including Audio Articles.

This live webinar is scheduled for Thursday, November 17th at 2PM EST. The session is free to attend — just click below to register now and reserve your seat for Thursday!

The post Register now for “Revenue Opportunities for Newspaper Podcasts” first appeared on Our-Hometown.