Visit our website dedicated to Newspaper Web Design and Development for package pricing, information and more.

The latest reports find that newspapers are being driven out of business by the World Wide Web. No longer is it acceptable, nor feasible, to merely have newspapers and other media outlets compete with the Internet ... they must now be part of it.

The Associated Press writes:
News audiences are ditching television and newspapers and using the Internet as their main source of information, in a trend that could eventually see the demise of local papers, according to a new study Wednesday (8/15/07).

"As online use has increased, the audiences of older media have declined," Harvard University professor Thomas Patterson said in a report on the year-long study issued by Harvard's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. (See item: Internet Killed the Newspaper Star)

Maine Web FX has the expertise and experience to bring your newspaper to the forefront of interactive media on the web. We have consulted with newspapers from Arizona to Vermont bringing readership levels up and online subscriptions to the forefront of the media market.

Our most recent success story comes from the Addison Independent in Middlebury, Vermont, which has steadily lost readership to its print subscriptions since the boom on the Internet.

Our solution: A full content management system for their aging website, along with a new design, expanded interactivity (forums and blogs) as well as a full online subscription service, where subscribers can read the entire content of the newspaper before it is available on newsstands. The content management system allows for the staff at the newspaper to edit the site themselves, e-mail subscribers, solicit news tips and alert its readers to breaking news.

Since Maine Web FX implemented the plan less than a year ago, subscriptions to the online site have tripled over print subscriptions and viewership to its main site has increased tenfold. This increase in hits to the website has not only meant more readers, but more advertising dollars as well. Ad prices for the website itself have increased by more than 50 percent as more and more businesses fight for top positions on the page.

The verdict: Newspapers and media outlets do not need to compete with the Internet, they need to be part of it or get run over by it.

Our Maine Web Design and Programming teams not only come at newspaper and media websites as webmasters, but rather as partners. Before working as full time designers and programmers, much of the staff worked at newspapers throughout the country as advertising representatives, reporters and IT professionals. Our web designers know the newspaper and media business. See our biography page for more information.

Maine Web FX: Maine Web Design and Programming offers free consultations to media outlets looking to either break into or expand their web presence. Contact us today for pricing and consultation services.