Positioning for Growth
State of Digital Publishing
A new publication and community for digital media and publishing professionals, in new media and technology.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
By?Andrew Kemp, Managing Editor at SODP
It’s been something of an odd week, as concerns about the dour economic outlook encouraged further job cuts in the publishing industry.
Vox Media — which publishes Vox, The Verge and the New York Magazine, among others — announced on Friday that it had laid off 7% of its workforce. Vox joins a growing list of media groups to swing the ax on the job front. We’ve seen layoffs from the likes of CNN, NBC, MSNBC and Dow Jones (to name a few) in recent months.
I say “odd” because after months of listening to financial institutions warn that the prospect of a recession was a done deal — which should have been enough for all publishers to conduct some sort of efficiency review — it now appears that pen hasn’t quite been put to paper on that front.
Not so Glum?
Financial services multinational JPMorgan Chase has revealed that the odds of an economic downturn are now sharply lower than they were just a few short months ago.
“Most asset classes have been steadily pricing out recession risks helped by China reopening, the collapse in gas prices in Europe and larger than expected inflation downshifting in the US,” JPMorgan strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou told the AFR. “The market expects a much lower chance of recession than it did back in October.”
Indeed, talk at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos last week suggested that different regions would experience more localized economic trends. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asia regions are expected to witness “moderate or strong growth”.
Publisher Perspective
So, what does this all mean for publishers? It’s tough to say at this point and, honestly, I think the moves publishers are making to trim their expenses remain the correct ones. Better to be lean in a time of plenty than the reverse.
领英推荐
Top Stories is a section within the universal search results page that displays the trending news stories related to that topic. Google also displays a Top Stories section at the top of search queries that it feels are news-oriented.
Content that features in Top Stories receives prime visibility on Google, resulting in increased traffic.
So why do so many publishers fail to optimize for Top Stories?
???In 2021, Google removed the restriction that only accelerated mobile pages (AMP) content was eligible to appear in Top Stories. This opened up the floodgates for more news publishers to jump on the Top Stories bandwagon.
???In 2022, Google?announced plans to further filter the results?within the Top Stories panel by adding a Highly Cited label to news stories quoted by other portals.
???Using structured data/schema to direct web crawlers to better understand and rank a page’s content is key to appearing in Top Stories. Many publishers don’t understand structured data or may feel intimidated by the technical requirements involved.
???In this FREE-TO-ACCESS module of the ‘Tactics’ chapter of our Publisher SEO course, you will go through the action items that should be of the highest priority for publishers seeking to feature their content in the Top Stories section.
The creative world is rapidly changing, and companies can either move forward or stand still and be left behind. The myriad of digital design platforms that have emerged has driven new design standards that will help grow the industry’s?global market value to $45 billion this year. And it won’t stop there.
Demand is now growing for design to be placed back into the hands of individuals, providing software companies with the unique opportunity to supply accessible, easy-to-use products that will allow anyone to become their own creator.?
This democratization of design ushers in a new age where anyone and everyone can be a creator, generating a new market that prioritizes the individual instead of just business. Through adapting current offerings to focus on this next generation of creators, design and publishing companies can empower individuals to tap into their creative potential.
To understand where we’re going, though, Joe Hyrkin , CEO of Issuu , first takes a look at where we’ve been.?