Hello all,

First, I want to wish everyone a Happy Holidays. It is always fun to come to IMWAN, even if I don't post as often as I'd like.

I have been asked to help reorganize the sports part of the website for the newspaper I work at, and was hoping some of you have suggestions on what you like to see when you go to sports websites. The site I'm helping is: http://www.latimes.com/sports

Any advice or opinions are welcome. The site can be a lot better than it is now.

Houston

Houston: Good luck. A site redesign and refocus is no small project.

For my part, I like to see the opinion material up front with a nice spotlight. More than the daily scores, that's what I zero in on when I browse a sports site. A good columnist or two can make me a regular visitor. I like that the columnists tab is up top on the left; I'd consider touting their pieces elsewhere in a more obvious way, too. Maybe utilize that "Most ViewedMost E-mailed" spot on the right to tout some column headlines.

I love the idea of team blogs on the page. Spiffy. They're lost down there, though! I almost didn't notice them at first.

Too bad the ads on the right are as wide as they are, because I feel like if you could buy youself just a touch of space you'd have some room to play with headlines sizes and such in the main body of the page.

But anyway, I'm no designer, so take that with a grain of salt.

As a reader, I like columns and features that go beyond the latest game. That's the stuff that keeps me coming back. Insights on the players, the team, historical pieces, whatever. The blogs are a really cool idea, too. Game recaps are sports features I rarely read. If it's a game I watched, I don't read them at all.

Yup..more prominent columns and features/opinions at the front end would be good.

I like it when the teams (pro or college) that are covered by the paper have a link (such as Lakers) which takes you to a page that aggregates all content about that team, including the brand new feature articles.

For example, the print paper would have an NBA section, with the standings, etc. It might also have an article about Kobe or something. If I choose the Lakers link, I want to see the Kobe article, the standings links, etc.

It seems trivial, but I use online sports section for the news about the teams that are specific to that area. I considered the paper to be authoritative on that one subject -- otherwise, I could just go to Sportsline or ESPN websites.

I'd like to see lots of Formula 1 coverage. Formula 1 racing is the only true racing there is.

With that said, you can ignore this post.

Seriously, good luck with the redesign!

More sports, Les Nessman.