Uticaod.com evaluation No. 2: Using links

This week's posts will focus exclusively on my hometown newspaper's website, uticaod.com. More specifically, I will be evaluating and critiquing the site based on several of the topics that we have discussed thus far in my online journalism class.

Today's topic: Using links in online stories

"Links allow the user not only to move among different parts of your story but also to access related information available on other Web sites. In this way, links not only can provide a seamless and logical means of letting the user experience your story but also can encourage the user to explore further on his own." - James C. Foust, author of Online Journalism: Principles and Practices of News for the Web

As Foust says, links are very important to online stories. They allow users to navigate throughout stories, and also to venture outside of stories into other related areas (of a story).

Some sites, such as The Miami Herald's and USA Today's, do a superb job of linking. Through their use of links, they provide users with extra material from which to get information. Whether it be another related story within the paper's own site, or a connected multimedia component, these sites (and their are obviously others as well) do a great job of giving their users several options (through linking).

Uticaod.com, while not to the same degree as the Herald or USA Today, also does a decent job of linking. Specifically recently - with a push toward more multimedia - the OD's site has included more and more "Related Content" links with its top stories. These links allow users to view photo galleries, listen to audio interviews, or even watch videos that are related to the written version of the story.

.

Here are a few examples of OD stories with links to more information:

*Kids set out on candy missions across Utica (link to more stories is below ad on the left)

*Family of 9 escapes Utica blaze (link to photo gallery is below ad on the left)

.

There is no doubt that there is still room for improvement for the OD when it comes to linking - perhaps better placement of the "Related Content" and more linking to past associated stories would be a good addition. But, considering its size and demographic, uticaod.com does a pretty good job of offering its users more material to further investigate a story through its use of linking.