South Africa-based media group Creamer Media has relaunched its Engineering News website as it keeps pace with technological developments and the continuously evolving requirements of its audience. The revamped website represents the fourth version since the media group launched its online presence more than a decade ago.

Creamer Media CEO Kenneth Creamer explains that the relaunch occurred against the backdrop of record online readership figures for the group’s various websites in the month of May, as measured by the Digital Media and Marketing Association, or DMMA.

“In May our group websites, including Engineering News, Mining Weekly, Research Channel and Polity, attracted more than 500 000 unique browsers worldwide, which has been a long-standing target of ours,” says Creamer. “Ever since we entered the online arena, we have recognised that in order to stay relevant we need to keep up with technology advances and the demands of our readers. Constant innovation has constituted our web development strategy for the last decade because we understand that if you stand still in the online space, you are really moving backwards.”

Creamer explains that Internet technology is continually evolving, with browsers regularly updated and the design and characteristics of websites ever-changing.

“We have invested significant effort and capital to ensure we keep pace with Internet trends and all new developments with regards to the online presentation of information,” says Creamer.

Key features of the new website are the enhanced focus on showcasing content and the ease of navigation for users.

Creamer Media creative director Shane Williams explains that a great deal of emphasis has been placed on making the website more visually engaging.

“We have changed a number of things to make the website more content-rich from a reader perspective.

“Firstly, when reading an article it is now possible to click on specific items mentioned in the article, such as people, companies or countries. This ‘hot linking’ redirects to a new page, which provides immediate access to all other Creamer Media articles in which the specific item is mentioned, thus deepening the amount of available information. A ‘back’ button ensures the reader can return to the original article if desired,” explains Williams.

It was previously necessary to find links for related articles at the end of a particular article, or to begin a new search for an item mentioned in the article. Navigation is now easier as the reader is led to related content and is not required to take extra steps to find additional information.

“This development offers readers more effective and convenient access to information on our website. However, the clickable links have been presented in a subtle manner so as not to distract from the reading experience,” says Williams.

Website content is prominently grouped according to industry sectors, which are listed as clickable links, ensuring a more efficient experience for the reader. The company has also taken note of trend analysis, which has shown that readers prefer larger images.

As people are now able to access websites from numerous devices, the revamped Engineering News website incorporates ‘responsive design’, whereby the website layout adapts to fit the screen size of the device from which it is accessed, whether that is a desktop computer or a tablet device.  The look and feel of the Engineering News application built for iPhones and its mobile website will not be updated in this phase.

Another technological innovation is the use of parallax scrolling to ensure that advertisements differential scrolling speeds on the pages of the website.

Reinette Classen COO: advertising and marketing explains that because the new design is easier to navigate and prompts readers to view more content, advertisers will benefit from enhanced activity on the website.

“By encouraging our readers to spend more time browsing our content, our website offers advertisers greater value, in much the same way as a billboard is more effective on a busy road than on a quiet road,” says Classen. She adds that advert sizes have been upgraded and retain their prominence, while at the same allowing editorial to take centre stage.

Another opportunity for companies to maximize their presence on the new website is to purchase their own ‘press office’ position, where they can publish all press releases and company announcements within the website. In addition, all articles published by Engineering News which mention the company will appear in each company’s press office, which also contains a link to the company’s own website.

“The press office is a very powerful tool for companies to manage their communications with the market in a well presented manner and on our wide-reaching platforms,” says Creamer.

Another new feature of the website is the integration with social media, with easily accessible icons allowing readers to share articles with colleagues and their networks through a variety of channels such as Facebook or Twitter.

An extensive events calendar has been included in the redesign, with the “What’s On” section detailing upcoming conferences, exhibitions and other industry events.

Online and magazine subscriptions are now part of a package deal, meaning that access to one product provides free access to the other.

“We have really pushed our website builders to be as innovative and as ambitious as possible with the redesign. The Engineering News website is now at the cutting-edge of what websites can offer and we are confident that our investment in this growing part of our business has been well worth it,” says Creamer.