How do you make a publication Web site transcendent? The basic strategy is simple, even if the execution usually demands a lot of effort:
Invent content and tools that are exactly what your audience craves but that can only be presented in the specialized environment of the Web, not in the pages of a print publication.
ConsumerReports.org, the latest addition to our list of the Transcendent 10, follows this strategy big-time. For consumers seeking practical guidance about products, the site is an amazing power tool.
How highly do Web visitors value the online re-invention of this venerable publication? A few numbers tell the story.
- CR Online now has more than 2.5 million subscribers, each
ponying up $26 a year. Editorial Director Kevin McKean believes that's
the highest number of subscribers to a paid content Web site. For
comparison, the Wall Street Journal Online has 770,000 subscribers; the New York Times' TimesSelect service has 550,000. (Consumer Reports
the magazine has just over 4 million subscribers, roughly one in 10 of whom subscribe to the site as well. <--Please note this correction, from an earlier posting that mistakenly reported "one in five." A stand-alone print subscription
also costs $26.)
- Subscriptions to the site are growing at about 20 percent a year.
- The site gets 3 million to 4 million unique visitors a month.
Here are two quick examples of what makes this site so transcendently great.
1) Smart slicing and dicing of print content
At one end of
the spectrum of publication Web sites is the "dumb dump." Text-based
material from the magazine or newspaper or newsletter is simply
shoveled into HTML pages. It's grey, hard to read online, and
unreceptive to interactive rummaging.
At the other end are ConsumerReports.org's customizable ratings
charts. Going far beyond the usual searchable archive, these online
charts provide a friendly and powerful way to drill into CR's wealth of
ratings, reviews, and advice about whatever appliance, gizmo, or tool
you're thinking about buying.
Consider, for example, the site's customizable chart for refrigerators.
(You'll need to be a subscriber to actually test drive this example.) Using the tool's
slider bars and check boxes, prospective buyers can customize their
view of CR's guidance, and shorten or lengthen the list of products
shown, by any number of criteria. These include brands, price range,
overall ratings score, and--most impressive to us as recent
refrigerator shoppers--product-specific features such as cubic feet of
capacity, exterior finish, and the option of a water dispenser.
This is one of the most dramatic examples we've seen of transforming
past print material into a tool that simply cannot exist within the
covers of a magazine but becomes a true killer app on the Web.
Granted, not every publication has the raw material to fuel an
online product selector. But most niche publishers are sitting on
treasure troves of text-based information that their audiences would
love to have creatively repackaged into an interactive tool. What have
you got?
2) A video demo worth more than a thousand (text) words
Beyond
the imaginative re-purposing of magazine content, ConsumerReports.org
has recently begun pushing its coverage, and its editors, into a wholly
new medium--namely, video. It makes perfect sense. The magazine does a
commendable job in its printed evaluations. But for someone in the
market for a new vacuum cleaner, for instance, there's nothing like
watching technicians put a bunch of different models through their
paces over a thick, soiled carpet.
Check out the video buying guide on vacuums. In the little box titled "Consumer Reports Video," click on "View video." (Even non-subscribers can see this.)
We wish we had watched the guide's first segment, on "Light
Cleaners,"
before we spent our money on a robotic vacuum. The sight of the little
bot aimlessly wandering the room, blindly bumping into table legs and
walls, and leaving most of the dirt on the floor--that's some powerful
consumer information. And it's perfectly suited to an online (as
opposed to in-print) presentation.
Again, not every publication covers a field that lends itself to
such hands-on demonstrations. But aren't there certain subjects within
your niche that you could explore most effectively using video? In this
YouTube era, it's a good bet that your Web audience would like to see
some of what your editors and writers are seeing out in the field.
Please let us know how your site and other sites that you like are transcending print. And keep pushing.
