About 6 weeks ago, USA Today relaunched their web site, integrating better social tools. The ProNet Advertising blog offers an update on this re-launch. Here are the highlights:
As a direct result of these community-focused changes, the site has seen a staggering 380% increase in new user registrations, in addition to a 21% increase in unique visitors, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. Not only have the registrations and visitors increased, but there has also been exponential growth in user-interaction with the site. For example, for the month of March, users posted almost 40,000 comments on the site.
What it means: as Muhammad Saleem says in his ProNet blog post, “not only does this show the strength of social media and its ability to create community and engender user-engagement, but it also shows the versatility of the medium and its adaptability to any space, no matter how old or truly novel.” I will add the following: people want to interact with content, discuss with others and leave comments. Make sure your site allows them to do it.
Seb Provencher's Blog 