4 Web Tips for Asset Managers from Gawker (Part 1)
For those of you unfamiliar, Gawker operates a network of (generally popular) blogs. You may not know the individual brands, but you probably know some of things they’ve written about, such as when Gizmodo found an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar earlier this year.
This week Gawker announced changes to the page layout of its blog network. This 1-minute video gives an overview:
Clearly Gawker’s business model does not match that of an asset manager. But I found the detailed reasoning behind the changes to have 4 good ideas for the Web sites of asset management firms.
The first two:
- All-Text Content is Toast: I know. “No duh.” But this point can’t be reinforced enough. Gawker is embracing the fact that the Web is increasingly all about the visual. The chance that great content can overcome subpar packaging is moving closer to zero. While firms have improved the amount and quality of audiovisual material, the typical asset management site is still a PDF and text-rich environment.
- Recent Does Not Equal Best: The traditional blog format and traditional approach to content management means that the most recent item almost always appears first (*cough, our blog, cough*). But Gawker notes that older content sometimes has more appeal and deserves longer premium promotion. Their new design enables dual management of what’s popular and what’s new. Asset managers – who tend to showcase the most recent piece of commentary or the most recent practice management offering by default – can consider doing the same.
Two more thoughts to come on Monday…