Our Resolution: A Better, Faster StateCollege.com

In the spirit of the New Year, we made a resolution: Improve the look and feel of StateCollege.com while making it faster and full of more and even better content. 

It still counts for 2010, even if we did start it in 2009.

Our Web site is faster, easier to use and more aesthetically pleasing than ever before. We\’re continuing to add content and columnists, and finding it all is as simple as can be.

Says StateCollege.com President Dan Myers: \”We are excited to launch the new look and design of StateCollege.com as part of our underlying mission to deliver a gathering place for residents, visitors, those looking to relocate to our community and those just looking to stay in touch with home.\”

Go ahead, take \’er for a spin. And then tell us what you think. We\’re proud of the work we\’ve done so far, but we\’ll continue to improve the site in the coming months.

Overall Look

• The first thing you\’ll notice about the site is how much wider it is. We put on a few inches around the waist to allow for more content \”above the fold,\” if you will. 
• The \”Top Story\” can sometimes be two stories now. Some days, there is just too much we\’d like for you to see.

• We are supported by the local businesses that advertise on our Web site. When StateCollege.com was first launched in 1996, it was simply an online directory of businesses. We have continued to enhance that initial directory with many more features and much more information. The new search feature will set you up with next year\’s home (or that Lamborghini, Chuck).
• Businesses on StateCollege.com get so much more than just their names out to the public. Visitors can take a virtual tour of the business, get directions to the location and watch videos.

• Ordering food from StateCollege.com and checking the forecast from AccuWeather is now even easier to do from the homepage.

• We\’ve changed the tabs at the top of the homepage to help you navigate the site.
• More banners on the homepage and throughout the site help you find anything you are looking for and things we think you might enjoy stumbling upon.

We\’re proud of many of the changes that we\’ve made in 2009, and our New Year\’s resolution is to continue to add and improve the site\’s features:

• Free user accounts and profiles
• Customizable wizards for user accounts
• iPhone and smartphone versions of the site
• 3D Virtual Tours of State College businesses
• Online food ordering
• Daily columnists
• Coverage of Penn State football (and other sports) and State High football
• Coupons page to save you money
• Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages for StateCollege.com
• Sharing StateCollege.com articles with friends.

Advertising

The changes to the site will help not only our readers, but also our advertisers. Typically, businesses advertising on StateCollege.com find that 30-50 percent of their Web traffic comes from StateCollege.com, and costs are typically a fraction of what one would find through other advertising methods such as radio/print/TV.

The new look and format of StateCollege.com support a very popular 300×250 medium rectangle and 300×600 skyscraper ads, which will help local advertisers get their message to a growing online community.

Traffic to StateCollege.com is up 42 percent from this time last year. More than 200,000 visitors have come to the site each month, and the average visitor spends more than 23 minutes on seven pages. With the new changes to the site, we believe these numbers will only improve.

Columnists

USA Network likes to promote the characters of both its fictional shows and the real world. Here in State College, we have a few characters of our own, and you can find them all at StateCollege.com.

On the home page, you\’ll find this widget that shows all of our columnists and their most recent columns. Find your favorites today.

• Russell Frank, a Penn State professor and former Centre Daily Times columnist, likes to look at everyday life in a unique way. He\’s a folklorist by trade, and his columns are routinely great stories that make readers take a second glance at their \”normal days.\”
• Joe Battista, or JoeBa, is a community man with his hand in just about everything. He\’s a hockey expert, and you can expect to find a little support for State College and Pittsburgh skaters in his writing. Joe cares about the community and wants you to as well.
• Jay Paterno, or JayPa, needs no introduction. The son of a legend and a rising star of a coach himself, Jay will write about the Penn State football team…and community activism…and political awareness. His topics are as varied as they are interesting. 
• Mike Poorman is a local expert on Penn State football. Since his days as sports editor of The Daily Collegian, Mike has been honing his skills and increasing his knowledge about the Nittany Lions. He finds the story within the story, and his columns show you a unseen side of the team.
• Mike the Mailman is as much a part of Penn State as Old Main or the Nittany Lion shrine. His columns reflect his office and personality: They\’re entertaining, well decorated and interested in every Penn Stater. 
• Recent addition Patty Kleban has only been with us for a few weeks, but she\’s already shown her interest in the people of the community. A university educator, Patty meets many new students every year, and each one of them has a story to tell.
• Faculty Q+A is a weekly profile of Penn State professors. We always welcome suggestions for new profiles, so feel free to e-mail me if know someone who should be profiled.
• You\’ll find my mug shot on Mondays. I\’m an \’09 graduate of Penn State, and I haven\’t yet forgotten what it\’s like to be a college student. My columns will generally focus on student life or changes to the Web site.

Section Pages

The whole Web site has been given a facelift, including the popular Bar Tour and Movies pages. But since the summer, we have been developing specialized pages for Penn State, State College School District, and sports from both schools. We\’re constantly changing and improving the site, so check out the following pages and offer any feedback:

• Penn State
• Penn State Sports
• Penn State Football
• State College Schools
• State High Sports