The Weekly Bulletin | March 5, 2024

Hi SODP community,

Let’s recap on what’s been happening, the new content, industry updates, tips, and more.

TIP OF THE WEEK

By Barry Pollard, Web Performance Developer Advocate on Google Chrome, Google

Last week, we hosted WP Publisher Success Week. Day 3 featured a workshop on workflow and website performance. This tip of the week is a summary of the advice Barry Pollard shared with the attendees on Google’s introduction of the INP metric.

On March 12, 2024, Google will replace FID with a new metric called Interaction to Next Paint (INP).

FID has been a part of CWV since its launch. According to recent performance data of the top websites from major CMS platforms, almost all websites are passing FID (above 90%).

Google decided to replace the metric with something more comprehensive. While FID only focuses on input delay for the first interaction on a webpage, the reality is that people often perform a lot more actions on a page after it is loaded.

Instead of looking only at the first interaction, INP also looks at the processing time or subsequent clicks or mouse actions, and any additional presentation delays. It can give a more accurate overview of the general performance of the website.

INP Tips For Non-technical Site Builders

For non-technical site builders, Barry Pollard suggests doing the following to prepare their sites for INP:

• Uninstall any WordPress plugins and tags on your website that are no longer in use.

• Avoid loading fancy widgets and expensive plugins unless absolutely necessary.

• Consider reducing the number of ads to find a balance between monetization and user experience, especially on mobile.

• Try to avoid excessive page sizes for your sites.

Suggested Workflow for Identifying Performance Issues After INP

• Evaluate the site performance with PageSpeed Insights and Google Search Console.

• Get page-level guidance by running a Lighthouse audit.

• Follow it up with a real-time analysis of CWV using the Web Vitals extension.

• Debug performance issues with the Chrome Dev Tools (performance panel)

• Use PageSpeed Insights and Search Console to monitor changes over 3 – 4 weeks.

• CrUX data, which is released on a monthly basis is also a good option.

WEBINAR: GET ELECTION-READY

How Can Newsrooms Capitalize on Election Season to Drive Growth | 8 March 2024

Learn how to use the election season to solidify your digital publication’s role as a trusted news and analysis source.

🗓 8 March 2024
🕚 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST | 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM CET

🌏 2024 is a historic election year, with more than 2 billion voters set to go to the polls in 50 countries, including India and the USA.

For digital news publishers, this period represents more than just a surge in traffic. It’s a chance to demonstrate the value of their platforms, provide essential information to voters, and solidify their role as trusted news and analysis sources.

In this webinar, Chad Hussain (VP of International Partnerships at Quintype) will walk the audience through:

✅ Real-world examples showcasing how newsrooms are using innovative storytelling formats
✅ Tactics to increase audience engagement and repeat visitors
✅ Checklist to ensure the digital newsroom is election-ready
✅ Effective paywall strategies to build a direct revenue model

SODP POSTS

Experiential Marketing Lessons: Q&A with Frank Arthur, Co-Founder of Man of Many

Founded in 2012 by Scott Purcell and Frank Arthur, Man of Many is an Australian independent digital men’s lifestyle digital publication.

Earlier this year, Man of Many partnered up with NBC Universal to create an immersive experience for the premiere of Argylle in Sydney. Featuring a curated guest list of more than 400 attendees, this red-carpet event was a masterclass in experiential marketing, featuring brand partnerships, luxury brand integrations, interactive experiences, and high-profile collaborations.

We sat down with Frank Arthur to learn more about the partnership, Man of Many’s innovative approach to audience engagement that transcends digital interactions, and how digital publishers can apply the experience to foster deeper connections with their readers.

JOB BOARD

➡️ Yahoo is looking for a senior director of audience development for AOL (Remote, US). SEE MORE

➡️ Australian Broadcasting Corporation is seeking a deputy digital editor. (Brisbane, QLD, Australia). SEE MORE

COMMUNITY BUZZ

Industry News

➡️ Meta on collision course with Australian government after announcing end to journalism funding deals. READ MORE

➡️ Threads is testing post-scheduling capabilities as the platform’s API enters its initial phase of live testing. The app also plans to introduce reply moderation and analytics insights capabilities for select third-party partners as part of the pilot. READ MORE

Social Media Discussions

➡️ Laura Ellis on LinkedIn:

BBC News has published its first piece of content which can help identify trustworthy news by displaying details about it and showing where it has come from. The work comes was born out of a consortium called the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) which was co-founded in 2019 by BBC Research & Development and a number of highly valued partners. The C2PA standard is now being supported widely across the news media industry and beyond. As BBC News CEO, Deborah Turness observes, "In a world of deep fakes, disinformation and distortion, this transparency is more important than ever.”

Incredibly proud to have been with this project since it began and very much looking forward to seeing it develop.

READ THE FULL POST

These are the highlights for the last week.

Until next!

Vahe Arabian and the editorial team at SODP