Posted May. 7, 2008
The big question in the transition online is how to make money on newspaper Web sites.
"We have to make this an economically viable enterprise," said Joe Michaud, who recently left as president of MaineToday.com to go into full-time consulting on interactive media at Local Interactive Strategies. MaineToday.com is the Web site for the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal of Augusta, and the Morning Sentinel in Waterville.
Online advertising requires a different approach than print advertising, Michaud said. Newspapers, with their print background, fall readily into a discussion of print versus online advertising, but "we really need to look at advertising in sites that have nothing to do with print. It's a different mindset for what makes an effective ad on a Web site," he said.
Michaud recommends creating a searchable "Craigslist-type" section of the Web site, where the entry point for basic classified advertising listings is free. You can then market up-sells to advertisers who want to create a featured listing, post a photo, or add a print version of the advertisement to your paper.
Newspapers can offer advertisers more options online than in print as well. Online ads can range from $25 to thousands of dollars a month, depending on the impact the advertiser wants to make, Michaud said. Web sites do "takeover ads," where one advertiser gets every ad on the page, he added.
"You'd never see it in print, but you can offer it in online packages," he said.
Local advertising online also helps to build a newspaper's brand and convey the sense of local community.
"The more volume of local listings, the better, especially on the home screen," Michaud said.
(Excerpted from a survey conducted by the New England Press Association)
