Introducing Curator for curating WordPress homepages… Here’s the “Zoninator” it’s replacing. Zoninator served Metro well for several years but as the site has grown, the editors need more control. How is Curator better? Editors can customise how content is displayed – portrait crops, sections, custom headlines, etc Editors can see the featured image Searching is much…… Continue reading WordPress curation: beyond Zoninator
Category: Metro
Summary
We’ve seen the benefits of having a strong brand. Brand isn’t enough though. If you want more here are some related posts: 5 things about our team that might freak you out 7 ways to make your news site a destination Thanks for reading!
People
People are the key to Metro’s success. Metro is only as good as the stories it publishes and the stories are only as good as the people who create them. No matter what Metro’s ambition is, we need more love between the people that matter the most. Engaged customers, staff and clients all fuel each…… Continue reading People
9 ways to boost your news brand
A series of short posts about Metro.co.uk and branding. It’s a work in progress. Part 1: Why The power of purpose The truth about news Identity Part 2: How Cultivating awesome To boldly go Part 3: What The great debate Simplifying product decisions Randoms Where is the love? Growth More questions than answers About
More questions than answers
In this series i’ve written a lot about brand, but brand is only a part of the story. There are lots of questions to be answered. Here are just a few… What drives return visits? This Contently blog says length of first visit is a big factor. Here is the data. Is this true for…… Continue reading More questions than answers
6. To boldly go
I’m a big fan of our new editorial vision. I can’t help wondering if we could be even bolder. The challenge A common comment about Metro is, “That’s not news!”. (Recently our leading story was about a dog taking a bath). I take this to mean that users sometimes want something deeper in the mix.…… Continue reading 6. To boldly go
5. Cultivating awesome
Metro’s HOW is it’s personality – the editorial vision driven by @DeborahArthurs. This vision is just what Metro needs. Our personality is our public face, but HOW also has an internal face – our character, our culture. As the saying goes, “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Metro has seen massive success over the last two…… Continue reading 5. Cultivating awesome
4. Product
Being clear about our brand can help guide our product decisions. Conversely, looking at which product decisions have been good/bad can shed light on our brand. For example, through the lens of conversation… 1. Fantasy Football isn’t news but it fits with conversation. People love to talk about their teams. 2. Gambling (as touted by…… Continue reading 4. Product
Social vs search vs direct
Whether our focus is shares or not, we want as many people as possible to see our great content. In the past we’ve seen massive growth in visits from search and social, but there’s one area which hasn’t grown: direct traffic. This is largely due to people using Facebook as their homepage. However, competitors such…… Continue reading Social vs search vs direct
7. The debate over WHAT we do
Are we “made to share”? Which is more important, shares or views? It’s been pointed out that: You can’t have lots of shares without lots of views. Some content (like our entertainment stories) aren’t as shareable as news. Although, we used to think that news wasn’t very shareable and that’s been proved wrong. Let’s look…… Continue reading 7. The debate over WHAT we do
3. Our identity (a work in progress)
OK, i’m not a writer (obvs), but here are the brand bits from the redesign slotted into the Start With Why template: WHY, HOW, WHAT. We love conversation. The best conversations are those where we learn something or are made to feel something. Metro brings these conversations to life by being in the know, provocative…… Continue reading 3. Our identity (a work in progress)