The Houston Herald (Houston, MO), http://www.houstonherald.com, had only been live for one month with a redesigned site before judging began in June for the 2007 Missouri Press Foundation Better Newspaper Contest. Thanks to the sparkling new design, the Houston Herald was named the state’s best among weeklies by the Press Foundation.
“It worked out nicely for us,” said Assistant Managing Editor Jeff McNeill. “I think our new design meant everything. It is easier to navigate and we’re able to provide more features, like video, that we couldn’t do before.”
The Better Newspaper Contest selects its winners based on originality, graphic appeal, ease of use, quality and quantity of local content, advertising, and overall utility.
“We constantly get e-mail from people thanking us for the new site. We’re just thrilled with it,” McNeill said.
Here’s what the judges had to say about each newspaper’s site:
houstonherald.com - “Clean design with information organized neatly in the left column. Wonderful job providing “Community” information on your site. Site fonts are easy to read. Quick link to subscription, weddings, letters, etc., forms is a nice reader service. Quick link to cartoons is a wonderful way to promote the fact you have local cartoons. The ‘Paper that Jack Read’ piece is cute…and probably effective!”
vandalialeader.com - “The number of online ads you’ve sold really stood out – congratulations! The blue buttons on your site are dated, but site is still well organized and locally focused.”
stlamerican.com - “Well-organized site, good number of ads, and easy to read. Lots of photos within the site, but you might consider a dominant photo on the front page to make it more visually appealing.”
