Herald Scores With Web-first Strategy

The Plymouth Herald enjoyed a huge boost to its online traffic when it broke the story of Argyle’s manager leaving to join Leicester City.

Breaking news stories ran on the daily newspaper’s website throughout yesterday to keep Plymouth Argyle fans updated on the latest happenings with club boss Ian Holloway.

The tactics paid dividends as the site received over ten times more traffic than it usually averages for a front-page story, reports Press Gazette.

Herald staff scored again with their special evening print edition providing in-depth analysis on Holloway’s departure.

“We've seen this before - if you put stories online first, the next day’s circulation will be up,” said Neil Shaw, web editor at the newspaper.

He added: “If you get the stories online, it doesn’t mean that people don’t buy the paper the next day because they’ve already seen the news.”

The dedicated web team at the Herald have also used readers’ comments posted online to provide content for the evening print edition.

“It’s something we do more and more often - the comments are a good way to build a circle of interest,” noted Shaw.

“We print the story online, people will comment on the story, we print those comments in the paper and then they go and buy the paper - so we actually find that interest and will increase circulation the next day.”