Newsrooms think about the content journey and the strategies needed to keep readers moving throughout their sites. Content elements should never lead to a dead-end but rather connect to other content on the site. The goal is strong recirculation, a measure that shows how much of an audience goes from one piece of content to another on the site. It also helps newsroom evaluate their strategies to optimize the way in which they move their audience through the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To understand how content links can aid audience recirculation, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism partnered with the Graham Media Group\u2019s seven local broadcast newsrooms. Their research study,\u00a0Using Links to Keep Readers on News Sites<\/a>, evaluates the impact of four factors on driving clicks on a content link:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In total, an average of 1.42% of those who visited the news sites during the study clicked on a content link. While 1.42% is a low rate of engagement, it did outperform industry-norms. Outbrain, an online advertiser specializing in presenting sponsored website links,\u00a0reports healthy click-through rates<\/a>\u00a0somewhere between 0.10 and 0.25%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key findings of The Lenfest Institute research include:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The study confirms industry findings that only a small percentage of users click on content links. However, the study also shows specific elements in design, layout and messaging can influence clicks in a positive manner. It\u2019s important for newsrooms to explore these elements and other practices to test what best helps guide readers through an engaged content journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By\u00a0Rande Price, Research Director\u2014DCN<\/a>@Randeloo<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n