The problems with charging for online content have been debated numerous times and it boils down to this:

News stories are just that :- news. They aren’t owned by anyone and the fact that the BBC report news on their website (that, as license fee payers, we already pay for) means that people can always get news without paying extra.

What about specialist news I hear you shout! Again same problem, news is out there and there will always be someone who will offer it for free or write their own version and post it. How about a group of friends clubbing together and accessing the content with a shared username and passwords?

But it could work

The Internet is successful because it gives people a voice. Anyone can post content and that is never going to change. The sooner online newspapers and magazines can accept that and think of ways they can truly differentiate themselves is the time they can start to make money.

Charge to search and access archives

It’s the data and libraries of information that holds the key for these companies. Don’t charge for accessing up to the minute news information on your website, there is no point. Charge to access old articles and information and maybe even charge on per a search basis. Only major news websites will have the capacity to do this, and the fact that the information cannot be cross-checked and supplemented by what users hear on TV and Radio means they have a greater need to go to a respected source.

Micropayments

The article linked above states that Johnson Press are charging £5 for a three-month subscription. That price is enough for users to think twice when parting with the fee and each user is charged the same regardless of how often the service is used.

A new pricing model may be that of Micropayments. If a user is charged, for the sake of argument, 1p every time they read a news article they will not think twice about parting with that sum of money. The issue of micropayments have been around for a while so if you fancy a little bed-time reading then these links may be of use:

The Case For Micropayments
The Case Against Micropayments

Life beyond the browser
As many sites offer current news stories, as discussed previously, there is little point for charging for the data – on the browser. What about other devices?

Mobile has grown in a big way this year and the massive success of the iPhone means that users can be permanently connected. Online newspapers and magazines could charge for current content as they provide it to the user when they are not at their PC or laptop, by charging for apps. Again the key here is to offer something different, for example a searchable archive.

Many companies online struggle to create revenue, with Twitter being the high-profile case, but it should be possible with a shift in thinking.

Google – Launched 2001

The beauty of Google is the simplicity of its design and the understanding that users want access to information quickly and easily. The design is very simple but deliberate, although recognisable, this example shows that simple changes, such as fonts can make all the difference to your design.

FaceBook – Launched 2004

FaceBook or Thefacebook is one of the successes of recent times. What we can learn though is that it is important to have a clear target audience in mind. Thefacebook was designed to connect people at colleges but it has taken over work places, schools and social settings. Meet your core user’s needs and then expand!

MySpace – Launched 2003

MySpace may have fallen behind FaceBook in recent times but I think this one is very interesting. The design looks very corporate but they must have realised that this design wouldn’t appeal to the people who were using the site. If a web designer mis-judges the users of a site it is important to change tact and keep them interested.

Twitter – Launched 2006

Few sites have polarised opinion like Twitter has. That is a whole new debate for another time but this image clearly shows what its original intent was…..”What are you doing?”

BBC news – Launched 1997

Finally I have included the BBC website. This design was way back in 1997 and it reminds us what we often forget. When we are thinking about just when to cut the gradient off, whether the icons are understandable or should we use rounded corners or not, as that is so last year, always remember this…content is king!

There you have it. If you want to see more read the article or use the Wayback Machine and if you find any good ones, let us know.