InfoWorld launches new home page design

Today we launched a significant upgrade to the InfoWorld.com home page.  The new layout was developed with several intentions in mind, and we're hopeful that this new version will not only be more useful to site visitors who are looking for news and information on IT products and services but that people find the page interesting and readable, worthy of a repeat visit.

The problems with the old layout included:

1. Low click conversion, high exit rate
2. No single focal point
3. Entry points to deeper content buried on the page, if present at all
4. Unbalanced ad/edit ratio
5. Dense content above the fold, lackluster offerings below the fold
6. Weak visibility for webcasts, white papers, research reports, custom sections and other lead generation opportunities
7. Weak visibility for newsletter signup form
8. Not enough exposure to key blogs, such as Jon Udell and TechWatch
9. Lacking personality, not enough presence for our columns
10. Underserving an audience predominantly using 1024x768 or higher screen resolution

So, a small team of us studied various layout options, analyzed the competition and other successful designs, and built a new page structure.  Eric Hill formulated the designs.  Chris Lin built the new page and created a new toolset for managing the content on the page.  We'll see art for the page coming from Ben Barbante and the art team.

Now, we've created a page that hopefully solves the above problems with the following features:

1. Very prominant, high energy visual attached to the main story of the moment.  This will change throughout the day.
2. "Top Stories" include the most important content regardless of content type, including blogs, special reports, product reviews and columns.
3. "Hot Topics" include links to key subjects and important coverage such as industry events, evolving story coverage, new buzzwords, etc.
4. Our vast blog coverage now gets more prominant treatment including an area focused specifically on Jon Udell's discoveries.
5. Columnists appear on the page as their columns are posted, alongside a headshot of the columnist
6. More Product Guide content appearing, one of the strongest parts of the site
7. Content flows down the page without dramatic interruptions.  This way advertising is integrated into the UI, yet it never stops the eye from considering further browsing.
8. The webcasts, research reports, custom sections, etc. appear as relevant content
9. Newsletter signups are featured prominantly at the top of the page
10. Wide 1000-pixel page format

We plan to roll out elements of this upgrade to other parts of the site soon, but we will see how this works and watch traffic patterns closely.  A big thanks to Eric, Chris and Ben, in particular, for their dedication to this effort.

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