Digital publishing news for November 7, 2013
It’s official: responsive web design will have no impact, good or bad, on SEO. This message comes straight from Google’s Head of Search Spam, Matt Cutts. He posted a video on Google’s YouTube page in response to a question about whether responsive web design impacts SEO. In the video he explains that responsive web design uses the same URL no matter what type of device you’re using to view the page. In other words, your unique mobile URLs are the actual issue here. You can check out this video here.
Forbes to Offer Educational Program
Diversification is a big part in the success of publishers in today’s world. Entering new markets and offering new services is a way to build your brand and Forbes is doing it by entering the world of academia.
Ashford College of Business and Professional Studies is becoming Ashford University Forbes School of Business. Emma Boyde writes, “Students at the school will gain online access to curated Forbes material – Forbes’ material is already free to view online, but Forbes will select targeted items from its vast archive and daily coverage for the students to study. Forbes has said it will also provide speakers and webinars featuring business experts selected from among its 1,200 international contributors. The main thing Forbes will provide, however, is its branding, according to Mike Perlis, chief executive of Forbes Media.”
It’s certainly an interesting new world when publishers start to reach university students.
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Welcome to the Magazine/Marketplace
Great content and great products are part of every publishers dream. Need recently launched with this model and we’re interested in seeing how it does.
According to Nathaniel Mott, Need is “a place where artists can showcase their work. It’s a place where men can find quality clothes. It’s a place where independent journalists can write about themes that are independent from, yet complementary of, whatever the company is selling that month.”
Perhaps this is the type of example we need to see more of in publishing.
How Publishers Can Use Foursquare
The social network Foursquare brings some attractive capabilities to publishers, including the ability to target audiences easier. Steve Smith writes, “Just as Facebook is ramping up its support of publishers, and Twitter is pursuing TV partnerships, Foursquare is now emphasizing the importance of branded media relationships by adding greater tracking to the publisher dashboard. Announced in its Tumblr feed last month, the new and improved interface lets publishers track where their own followers are checking in to give them a better sense of where to place media content so it gets seen.”
Have you tried the new updates to the publisher dashboard on Foursquare yet?
Playbill Names New Publisher
Bruce Hallett, who has worked for both Time and Sports Illustrated, has been named as Playbill’s new publisher. Hallett found success at both Time and SI, according to Steve Cohn. “Hallett’s Time and SI stints were considered successful in that Time‘s ad pages increased by 45% from 1994-1999 and SI‘s Publishers Information Bureau-tallied $644.4 million ad revenues in 2002 were +$73.4 million (+12.9%) versus 2001.”
We can now watch to see if Hallett brings that same success to Playbill.
