OBJ relaunched its website today with a clean new design and several important upgrades.<\/p>\n
Since its launch in the late 1990s as a daily news website, OBJ.ca has established itself as the definitive source of local business news, data, events and multimedia content. It\u2019s a digital hub to keep local business leaders informed. Today, the website is visited by more than 100,000 users per month generating millions of pageviews annually.<\/p>\n
Let me give you a quick tour of the new OBJ.ca.<\/p>\n
Homepage<\/p>\n
Starting on the homepage. This is a much better \u201cdigital menu\u201d of\u00a0 everything that OBJ offers its audience. Let\u2019s take this block by block.<\/p>\n
Block one is the latest five articles with more visual punch. Also, OBJ\u2019s new premium magazine (published five times annually) has a high-profile position with digital edition click through.<\/p>\n
Block two brings various types of content marketing together, including OBJ360, Special Projects and Guest Blogs, a change in name from Expert Blogs.<\/p>\n
Block three presents upcoming events, plus the latest Social Gallery post and YouTube video.<\/p>\n
Block four is dedicated to subscriber-only content, including Insider features and the OBJ Data Centre. Visitors are now one click away from accessing lists.<\/p>\n
Block five brings our incredibly important special publications to the forefront, again with easy clickthroughs to digital editions. More visibility for the Book of Lists, Giving Guide etc.<\/p>\n
Continuous scroll on article pages<\/p>\n
There is also a major change on news article pages. OBJ is now embracing continuous scroll (just like your favourite social media app) to make it easier to consume content.<\/p>\n
For our advertisers, the clean design on the homepage and news article pages strikes the right balance between content and advertising. We\u2019ve eliminated cluttered sidebars to focus the readers eye on one stream of content. This is a win for readers and advertisers alike.<\/p>\n
One final anniversary project coming soon<\/p>\n
The new OBJ.ca website is the second of three projects to celebrate OBJ\u2019s 30th anniversary. The first was our transition from tabloid newspaper to premium glossy magazine. More than a change in format, a completely new approach to print content.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s coming next? We will keep that change under wraps for the next few months.<\/p>\n
The OBJ team is working overtime in our 30th year to bring more value to readers and advertisers and get ready for our fourth decade serving Ottawa.<\/p>\n