Portsmouth News Website Analysis

with all the articles

underneath (either

coming under the local

or the sports news),

sorted into mini

columns.

Advertisements and

social media content

are placed in a portrait

style on the right hand

side of the website

homepage. The

websites latest news

videos, the ‘What’s On’

and the Portsmouth

Recommendations

sections are all placed

in the middle of the

homepage, which

could be considered

useful to tourists.

Some of the section

subheadings have also

been placed at the

bottom of the websites

homepage such as

News’, ‘Sports’,

‘What’s On’ ‘Weather’

etc.

Colour

The appearance of the

newspaper's web page is the

first thing that really catches

your eye. The colours that

are used for the Portsmouth

News home web page are

blue and white. Both of

these colours could be linked

to the Portsmouth Football

club logo (as the logo is blue

and white). The blue could

also represent that

Portsmouth is a coastal area

and link to the sea ,with the

masthead including an image

of a ship, representing

Portsmouth Harbour. The

text ‘The News’ is a white

colour, and has used a big,

bold font.

Layout

The newspaper’s

website doesn’t used

defined columns like

you would normally see

in a newspaper

when sorting different

articles or other features

into the appropriate

section. A section bar is

placed above and

underneath the masthead,

along with a search bar and

symbols of social media.

The website has chosen to

set most of the features out

in a landscape style. Like a

normal newspaper, the top

feature stories on the

newspaper’s website

homepage are made to

catch the attention of the

audience by being placed

right at the top of page, and

being made into more

bigger feature stories than

some of the other articles

on the homepage. The main

focus of the homepage is

the local and sports news

(which are placed under the

top feature stories). Both of

these sections have one top

feature story

This could have been

done as these sections

could be seen to

appeal to the public

the most. The

websites

contact details are

found at the bottom

of the homepage.

Sections

The first section along

the section bar is the

‘News’ section, where

all news articles are

sorted into the

appropriate groups.,

The ‘Local’ subheading

allows you follow the

news and events taking

place in places near

Portsmouth as well

Portsmouth itself. You

can also see live local

news updates and read

about ‘Community

View’ ,

,where you can read

about what others have

to say on certain

topics. The ‘Crime’

section tells you about

all the local crime that

has been going on in

the area. ‘Traffic and

Travel’ where you can

get all the latest travel

information, and see a

map of all of the

highway cameras for

when you are on the

road. The ‘Business’

section provides news

on the local

businesses, and

advertises a job

section where you can

type in any keywords

that link to the job that

you are searching for,

and are available in

your location area.

Other sections include

local news about

Defence and

Politics. There is latest

news and information

on Health and

Education, and

Campaigns. The website

also offers other

Regional and National

news.

The sports section is the

following the section

along the section bar.

Like the news section,

you can choose to read

the local Pompey sports

news, or the national

sports news. You can

also look at the recent

match reports, listen to

podcasts, and read all

about your favourite

Pompey players.

The ‘What’s On’

section targets

readers by

offering a variety

of

different things to do in

Portsmouth, that will

each appeal to a certain

reader. This section also

tries to target different

age groups. The website

offers the trailers to the

latest films that have

been released in cinemas,

which could be aimed at

a young teenage

audience. A list of music

and clubbing events

targets the older teenage/

young adult audience.

The National Museum of

the Royal Navy and the

Royal Marines Museum

targets families with

younger children by

organising fun games and

activities for the

children. The website

also shows it’s top

recommendations for

places to eat out, whether

it is a romantic meal for

two or a family meal

out. You can also look at

the website for a day to

day update on the events

that will be taking place

that day.

The announcements

section allows you to

see all of the recent

memoriam, anniversary

and birthday notices.

Above is a search bar

where you can type in

the persons/peoples

names that you are

looking for.

Under the life section, the

public have decided to

get involved with the

newspaper’s website, by

submitting articles and

photos for other people to

have a read or have a look

at , Popular

topics include ‘Homes

and Gardens’, ‘Food

and Drink’, ‘Fashion’

and ‘Travel Reviews’.

There is also a feature

video section and the

‘Chipper Club’ for

children, where the

Chipper the fish blog is

updated frequently.

There is also the

‘Opinion’ section,

(which in some ways is

like the ‘Life’ section),

where people can

submit articles about

their opinions on a

particular subject.

A selection of photos

and videos are

included in the

nostalgia section.

Videos and photos

include the ‘HMS

Vernon’s triumphant

cadets in 1956’, and a

Public notices are sorted

into three columns for

readers . The three

columns are, ‘Hot Topics’,

‘Local Traffic News’, and

‘Local Issues’. The Local

Traffic news could be

aimed at people who have

to work on the road a lot,

and the local issues could

suggest to be aimed at

more stay at home

residents.

photo from Cowes Week

from the 1960’s. This

could be done to try and

target the much more

older adult readers.

The Reader Panel is

designed to seek

responses from the

readers of the

Portsmouth News.

By filling in a

registration form to

join the reader

panel gives the

readers a chance to

share their thoughts

on a news article,

what

their opinion is on a

particular columnist,

or how they would

suggest to improve a

particular area or

section of the website.

Readers who decide

to join the Reader

Panel will get the

chance to see the

responses other

readers have to their

views. Other benefits

of joining the Reader

Panel include being

rewarded freebies and

gifts, for taking part

with the newspaper.

This gives the chance

for the readers to feel

more involved with

the newspaper,

knowing that their

voices are being

heard.

A selection of E-Mags

have been put together

on the website. Each E-

Mag tries to target a

particular audience. For

example, the E-Mags

such as ‘Educational

Features’, and ‘Guide to

Education’ would be

aimed at families or

people with children.

‘Visitors Guide for the

South’ and ‘Days out in

the South’ would be

aimed at tourists, and the

‘ETC Magazine’ would

be targeting a woman

audience.

You can now buy

pictures/prints from the

Gallery section. All of

the prints are sorted into

the appropriate sections,

‘Events and Community

Features’, ‘School

Proms 2013’, ‘Aerial

Pictures’, ‘Pompey’,

‘Latest 100 News

Photos’ and ‘ The Best

Selling Pictures Over

The Last 28 Days’. The

reader can choose any

photo from each section

that they choose, with

photos dating back to

2004. There is also a

‘Buy News Pictures’

section. A search bar

along the top of the

screen allows the person

to search for a certain

photo/s, by either typing

in a name or image

number, or search by

date range and keywords

associated with the

subject. Adverts

There are a few

adverts that feature

on the website

homepage, which

seem to frequently

change.

For example,

advertisements for

Thorpe Park and

‘Kelly’s of Cornwall’

ice cream and ‘Avis

Cars’ are on the

website homepage at

the moment. All of

these advertisements

are associated with

summer, people go to

buy ice cream to have

in the hot weather and

Thorpe Park is a great

place to take children

out in the summer

holidays. And also

people , particularly

large families would

need to hire a car to

take all of their

belonging with them

whilst they are on

holiday.

The website also offers a

‘Shop’ section.

You can either use the

search bar to find what

you are looking for, or

you can look under the

appropriate headings. The

newspaper’s store targets

more than one audience

with it’s products with

headings such as ‘House

and Home’, ‘Gardening’,

‘Technology’, ‘Outdoor

and Leisure’, ‘Book,

Music and Film’, and

‘Fashion and Jewellery’.

Readers can also keep up

to date with the latest

shopping offers and

discounts by signing up.

Advertisements are also

found along the section

bar. There is a dating

section where you can

sign up to the

‘Two’s Company’ dating website.

There is also an option to view

other member’s profiles before

signing up. A Bingo site is also

advertised , which could be aimed

at more older adult audience. It

offers a list of different Bingo

games such as ’90 Ball Bingo’,

‘Deal or No Deal Bingo’ and

‘Joker Jackpot’.

A range of different holidays

are on offer. These type of

holidays include, ‘Rail Breaks’,

‘European City Breaks’,

‘Ocean Cruising’ and ‘Walking

Holidays’.

The ‘Love Your Local Shops’

advertisement offers lots of

advantages to people, in

attempt to get them to shop

at their local shops more.

Some of these advantages

are saving you time and

money on fuel, products are

sold at reasonable prices and

you are considered to

be more valued. Some

of the sponsors include

‘Twyford Homes’,

‘The Nature Denture

Clinic’ and ‘Marriotts

Furnishers’.

Jobs

The ‘Portsmouth Jobs

Today’ section has an

endless list of jobs

featured on the job

section main page.

By registering with

Portsmouth Jobs

Today, you can

mention what types

of job/s you are

interestied in and

upload your CV, so

you can be kept up to

date with the latest

job vacancies. You

could also enter the

type of job you are

looking for in

in the search bar at the

top of the page, along

with your location.

Although, there is

another way of

searching for a job ,at

the bottom of there is a

section called ‘Other

ways to search’. You

can either click on the

sub headings,

‘Location’, ‘Sectors’

and ‘Public Sectors’(all

of these sub headings

provide you with a list

instead of having to

search for them).The

‘Training and Advice’

section provides you

with a list of useful tips

on particular matters,

such as CV advice,

interview techniques

and public speaking

skills. The site also tells

you which companies

are recruiting on the

right hand side of the

page, and featured jobs

are on the left hand side

of the page.

Motors

This section includes a

search section where

you can search by

clicking on the different

headings ‘Makes and

Models’, ‘Body Style’,

‘Age and Mileage’ and

‘Running Costs’ , or you

can use the free text

search. You can also

search for a car by

seeing how far away it

is from your actual

location by entering

your postcode. There is

also a price bar where

you can lower or higher

the cost of the car that

you want, a fuel type list

and a transmission list,

which will help you to

narrow down your

search. The motor

section gives a

list of car dealers in

Portsmouth. This is

useful for people so they

can check out the car

dealers and find the deal

that is best for them.

There are also

advertisements for new

cars such as the new

SEAT Mii Ecofuel, and

an advertisement to sell

your own car. There is

other car news, as well

as car reviews. There is

the option to read

through the car reviews

in an ‘A-Z’ style.

Property

With the Property

section, you have the

option to look at

buying a property , or

looking to a rent a

property. Both of

these options able

you to look at the

‘Min Price’, ‘Max

Price’, ‘Property Type’ and

the minimum of bedrooms

(with the rent option also

having the ‘Price Type’

option). By using the search

bar you can search for

properties that are your

current location or are

closer to your workplace or

maybe closer to schools etc.

The list of different

properties (for both

properties to buy or rent)

can be sorted by highest

price, lowest price, most

recent and most reduced,

along with a preference

search. The preference

search helps you to be

specific about what type of

property you are looking . It

includes searching for the

right property type, the

location, the minimum or

maximum of bedrooms that

you would like and the

price range. The property

section also looks at

property values, new

properties , and includes

an A-Z list of estate

agents.

Directory

The website also includes

a business directory. You

can type in the name of a

company, or a keyword

relating to the topic that

you are searching for,

along with the location.

Active AudienceThe split up of the

different sections of the

website allows the

audience to instead, click

on a particular section

without having to flick

through the pages to find

what you were looking

for , like you would be

doing with a newspaper.

This applies to all

newspaper websites.

Social Media

Social media features on the

mast head with the symbols

for Facebook and Twitter.

Next to the symbols there are

the words ‘Like us ’ for

Facebook and ‘Follow us’ for

Twitter. The latest tweets

from the Portsmouth Local

News Twitter account feature

on the website homepage.

Other Twitter users can then

reply to the tweet, or

‘retweet’ (share with other

followers) certain tweets that

they choose to share from the

Portsmouth Local News

account.

Once people have finished

reading an article that they

particularly liked, they can

like the article with

Facebook, tweet about the

article, or share the article

with Gmail and email with

other people. By using

social media shows that the

website is targeting an

audience

that know how to easily

access the internet.

Interactivity

There is a Portsmouth News

App for IPads and IPhones,

where people can keep up to

date with the latest news,

without having to be near a

computer. The app is also useful

when people are on their way to

work or dropping the children

off at school etc.

Subscribe

By subscribing to the

website, you can save money

on every issue of the

Portsmouth News and have

free access to a free tablet

app.

Mast Head

The mast head includes the

daily weather forecast, the

symbols for social media, the

‘Place your Ad’ and the

‘Subscribe’ heading, and the

login and register option.