Welcome to the first total redesign of the site since we launched it in 2007.
As many of you know who’ve followed the site from the beginning, we are former newspaper reporters who are learning not only to run a website but also to run a business. A key lesson we’ve learned so far is that continuing to invest in and improve your product is a key to success. And many of you have told us we needed to upgrade the look of the site.
We set out with three goals in mind: We wanted to improve the aesthetics of Shop-eat-surf, we wanted to make it easier for you to move around “inside” the site and we wanted to give you more.
All the while, we kept in mind that readers always tell us they like how simple, fast and easy it is to use.
Here’s a quick tour of what’s new and improved.
On the home page
- We’re displaying more stories, in quick, easy-to-read summaries. So, during busy or newsy weeks, you can find all of our most recent posts easily on the home page.
- A new “industry releases” section, with headlines displayed at the top of the left column. It’s a place where we can post important industry press releases and events.
- New tabs across the top of the page link to our inside pages.
- New yellow boxes highlight each Executive Edition story in the articles column, and previous Executive Edition headlines in the left column.
- A new, easier to find and use sign-in box for Executive Edition members, and another new, easier to find sign up box for our free daily email alerts.
- A new, live stock ticker scrolls across the middle of the page.
- The “Also Online” section on the right hand side of the page links to interesting, industry-related stories from other sources.
- New, industry-standard banner sizes give our sponsors more impact, and deliver their messages to you in familiar shapes and sizes.
- New displays of blurbs from our Readers Say testimonials page, our Industry Insights (formerly Business Development) page of business news and advice written by sponsors, and to our new Professional Services Directory.
On article pages
Inside, you’ll find easy tools to move to other stories without having to go back-and-forth from the home page.
- You can find other stories by clicking the “next” or “previous” article links at the top and bottom of every story.
- Or, you can find related stories by clicking on any of the highlighted words to find “More On” stories about executives, companies and themes in the story you’re reading.
- Now you can page through our longer stories – just click on the page numbers you find at the bottom of each article. While you’re at the bottom of the article, we give you a list of some articles you might have missed, which you easily can click to read.
Thanks to Neil Pinchin, who designed the site, and to Taylor Digital, our web developers who executed and implemented the new features.
Please, take your own tour around the new site, and let me know what you think of our new look and feel – and what we should improve next. It’s a work in progress.
You can use this feedback form on our Contact Us page, or send me an email.
