Newspaper Website Design: Trends And Examples

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News websites can be intriguing to examine from a design perspective. Regardless of what type of news they cover, they all face the challenge of displaying a huge amount of content on the home page, which creates plenty of layout, usability and navigational challenges for the designer. The lessons that can be learned from examining how news websites address these challenges can be valuable for designers who work with other types of websites, including ones with blog theme designs.

Monetization is also a major factor for news websites, and it’s interesting to see how they integrate advertisements in the design. In some cases, the ads are somewhat intrusive or excessive, but most news websites are able to use ads without turning readers away, in part because of the content that’s available.

For the purposes of this article, the term “newspaper website” refers to any news-related website that has the editorial focus of an online periodical. Many of the websites mentioned here are the online versions of major newspapers, but others are standard news websites and some blur the line between news website and blog.

You may want to take a look at the following related posts:

  • Award-Winning Newspaper Designs
    This post is supposed to provide you with some examples of outstanding newspaper designs which have been rewarded with prestigious awards (see references at the bottom of this post), and demonstrate unusual approaches of newspaper design.

Common Trends of Newspaper Websites

1. Color Schemes

Most news websites use dark text on a white background. Obviously, these websites contain a huge volume of content, and readability is important. A few of the websites mentioned later in this article use darker colors for headers or for the body of the page outside the content.

A large percentage of news websites also use blue and red in addition to a dark gray or black for text. Blue is extremely common for headlines, article titles and links. Red is often used sparingly as an accent color. Some news websites also mix in more colors in other places, such as in the navigation.

The L.A. Times website demonstrates a common color scheme:

LA Times

2. Header and Sidebar Banners

Of course, all of these websites need to produce revenue, and banner ads in headers are a key source of income. Some websites use banner ads on all pages, and others exclude banners on the home page but display them above the header on other pages.

While blogs commonly use 125 by 125 pixel banners in sidebars, news websites commonly use 300 by 250 banners or tall skyscrapers. Many of the websites mix in some AdSense or other text link ads.

The Telegraph uses a 730 by 90 pixel banner over its header.

Telegraph

3. Top Navigation

Although there are a few notable exceptions to this trend, most news websites put their primary navigation menu just below the header and above the content. The New York Times and MSNBC are two of the exceptions, as they both use the left sidebar for the main navigation.

The Times Online uses a two-level navigation menu.

Times Online

4. Tabbed Content Areas

Many news websites use tabbed content areas that allow visitors to see popular articles, recent articles, most commented articles, etc. This is sometimes used in the sidebar, and other times in the main content area, such as on Wired. This allows for more control by users over what content and links they see, and it can save space in the design by making more content accessible in a specific area.

Wired

5. Grid-Based Layouts

Newspaper websites are commonly built with grid-based designs. The grid is a popular choice not only because of the sharp look it creates but because it’s one of the most effective ways to manage and organize a large amount of content. The New York Times has one of the more well-known grid-based layouts.

NY Times

Notable Differences Between News Websites and Blogs

The line between a news website and a blog is a fine one, and the two types are difficult to distinguish sometimes. For the purpose of this article, “blog” refers more to a traditional blog than to a commercialized news blog by a team of writers. While there are certainly similarities between blogs and news websites, there are also some key differences.

Social Media Integration

Seeing widgets or voting buttons on blogs is extremely common; in fact, most blogs use them in one form or another. Most news websites, however, use them more subtly, if at all. It’s common to see a “Share” section on articles, such as the one shown below from ABC News, but voting buttons are not used in quite the same way as on blogs, where a standard “Digg This” button may appear at the top of every post. A growing number of news websites recognize the impact of social media, but they are still using such tools subtly in their designs.

A few websites shown in more detail below do make more use of social media than others. The Huffington Post has a section specifically to display stories that are new on Digg, and the website certainly makes plenty of front page appearances.

Huffington Post

RSS Feeds

Subscriptions and RSS feeds are a huge part of blogging, and most blogs use large icons or FeedBurner counts to make it easy for visitors to subscribe. Most news websites, however, don’t push RSS feeds on readers like a blog would. Most news websites do offer feeds, often according to category of content, but they’re not a major part of the design or layout. In fact, most visitors probably don’t even notice the small icons or links to feeds. As RSS feeds become a part of the daily lives of average readers, this will probably change.

The Guardian promotes a link to its feed in the website’s header, but with much less attention drawn to it than most blog themes.

Guardian

Comments

Reader comments and discussion are a critical element for most blogs, but they’re not as important to news websites. Many news websites allow readers to leave comments, but they’re usually an afterthought in the design and are rarely promoted the same way as they would be on a blog. For example, many blogs show excerpts of posts on the front page, and almost all will also show a comment count with the excerpt that links to the comment section. This is used on a few news websites, but it’s rare.

ABC News is one of the rare news websites that shows a comment count by the post excerpt on the home page.

A Look at 20 Leading Newspaper Websites

The Onion
Satirical news website The Onion features a grid-based design (it’s been called the funniest grid you ever saw) that makes excellent use of the screen space that’s available. There is a lot going on on the website, which can be both good and bad. The main navigation separates the content into video, radio, sports, election, etc.

The Onion

The header includes an ad on each side, and the sidebar has some advertising as well, but nothing too intrusive. Some parts of the home page are used essentially as advertisements for features that are part of The Onion, such as The Onion Personals and The Onion Store.

New York Times
The website of the New York Times is another well-known grid. The majority of the website’s navigation is down the left side of the page, which is not as common as top navigation. The website does use a tabbed navigation bar at the top with links to such features as “Today’s paper,” “Video,” and “Most popular,” but all of the content category links, such as World, U.S., Politics, Business, etc., are down the side.

NY Times

The website’s design includes a nice use of blue and black headers and links, with a touch of red added in a few places, such as the time of an article’s publication. Overall, the New York Times presents one of the better newspaper websites.

Chicago Tribune
Unlike many of the other websites featured here, the Chicago Tribune uses only one small banner in the header of its home page, although individual article pages use a 730 by 90 banner. Aside from the header, the rest of the home page is fairly ad-heavy, including text link ads.

Tribune

The content on the Chicago Tribune website is spaced out a bit more than, for example, the New York Times’. Again, blue is used for headers and links, with a touch of red.

Washington Post
The Washington Post also uses the common colors of blue, black (or dark gray) and red on a white background. The header includes a small 290 by 45 banner, and the top of the sidebar includes a 300 by 250 banner. The rest of the home page contains only a few other small banner ads.

Washington Post

The layout of content on the home page is focused on providing categorized links to specific content. An image is included for the lead story, but other headlines above the fold do not have thumbnails. At the top right, there is a section for the most-viewed articles.

Los Angeles Times
The L.A. Times website takes a different approach with its header than some other news websites. There is relatively little going on there, with plenty of unused space that could be filled with ads, something that most other news sites are doing. The rest of the home page uses only two 300 by 250 banners and a few text link ads. Individual article pages use a 730 by 90 banner above the header.

LA Times

The content of the L.A. Times home page is contained in a grid-based layout, with primary navigation on the left. Again, blue, black and red are the colors of choice for text, links and headlines.

Tennessean
The Tennessean isn’t one of the largest newspapers in the U.S., but its website is worth noting. The Tennessean breaks some of the norms of the other websites that have been examined so far, primarily in terms of color. A dark orange is used for headlines and links, instead of a more common choice, such as blue. Additionally, a green background color is used on the sidebar.

Tennessean

There is a 300 by 250 banner in the sidebar and a skyscraper in the left sidebar, with more ads at the very bottom of the page. Individual article pages include a 730 by 90 banner above the header.

Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle packs a large number of headlines onto the home page, including in the top center of the layout. This means there are more links to content above the fold, but each of them stands out less than it would on a news website that uses more thumbnails.

Chronicle

The website has no ads in the header of the home page, but has a few banners in the right sidebar and some text link ads at the bottom of the page. Article pages have a 730 by 90 banner above the header.

USA Today
The USA Today uses more color than many other news websites, particularly in the navigation menu and with links throughout the website. Category links for feature articles, such as sports, markets, education and people, all use different colors, which help them stand out.

USA Today

Unlike most news websites, the USA Today shows the number of comments on articles right by the headlines on the home page. Only a few smaller banners are located on the home page, aside from a 730 by 90 banner at the very bottom of the page. Individual article pages are much more ad-filled, and at times while navigating through the website you may encounter a full-page ad that you have to skip to get to the content.

Mail Online
British news website Mail Online uses a more colorful design than many other news websites. The headlines and links are a lighter blue than those on the New York Times or Chicago Tribune websites, and they turn red on hover. The right sidebar includes tons of thumbnails from recent posts and colorful headers and roll-overs.

Mail Online

The website includes AdSense ads in the header and various ads throughout the rest of the layout, including some in the middle column. The grid layout keeps the content organized and makes use of virtually the whole page, which is incredibly long.

Telegraph
Another leading UK news website, the Telegraph, uses a nice, clean grid-based layout. Above the header is a 730 by 90 banner, and the only other advertising on the home page is a 300 by 250 banner and a skyscraper, both in the right sidebar.

Telegraph

The home page design makes extensive use of thumbnails to go along with article headlines and brief descriptions. Blue and red are used for headlines and links. The main navigation is located at the top of the page.

Guardian
The Guardian uses a clean but colorful design. The main navigation at the top of the page consists of various colored links to different sections of news. The home page uses little advertising, but individual article pages include a 730 by 90 banner above the header of the page, and 300 by 250 ad at the top of the sidebar.

Guardian

Headers on the Guardian website are a common blue, but colorful borders are used to add some visual appeal. Thumbnails are used in several spots on the home page, but most stories have only a headline and brief description or just a headline.

Times Online
The Times Online is one of the few news websites to use a bright color in its logo/branding area, but it does accomplish the goal of distinguishing the website. Above the header is a 730 by 90 banner.

The home page uses a two-level navigation menu above the content and a fairly typical blue color for headlines. Several article excerpts on the home page include thumbnails, but there are no large images for featured articles as there are on many news websites.

Times Online

MSNBC
MSNBC stands out among other news websites due to its dark yet colorful header, a look that’s been imitated by many Photoshop users. The header includes no advertisements, and in fact there is only one ad visible above the fold. Text link ads are used in a few places throughout the home page. Individual article pages do include a 730 by 90 banner above the header at the very top of the page.

MSNBC

Overall MSNBC is a very well-designed website, with an attractive color scheme and a layout that’s well-structured but not overly cluttered. Like the New York Times, MSNBC uses the left sidebar for its primary navigation.

ABC News
ABC News features a dark header that helps distinguish the website from other news leaders. There is relatively little advertising on the home page. The right sidebar contains a 300 by 250 banner and the only other ads are at the very bottom of the page.

ABC News

At the top right of the page there are three current videos, plus a link to more video content. While other news websites include video, most don’t place videos as high on the page as ABC News does.

Ars Technica
Tech news website Ars Technica has a vastly different design than mainstream general news websites, which should be expected. Unlike the image-heavy general news websites, Ars Technica does not use thumbnails on its home page. Additionally, the article pages have very few images in comparison to general news websites.

Ars Technica

The website uses tabbed navigation at the top of the page to take visitors to different categories of news, such as Business, IT, Apple, Hardware, etc. The header includes a 730 by 90 banner, and the top of the right sidebar includes a 300 by 250 banner ad. Further down the sidebar is a skyscraper banner.

CNET News
Tech news website CNET News uses a fairly basic design with a dark header, a featured content area, and a long list of headlines with brief excerpts. Blue and red are used for headlines and links.

CNET News

The header includes a small text link ad on the right side of the screen and a few 300 by 250 ads in the sidebar. No additional ads are used on individual articles.

TechRadar
UK technology news website TechRadar includes a few items that currently aren’t very common on other news websites. Just above the content of the page, there is a “TechRadar Update” section that scrolls through links to the most recent content. Additionally, there is a featured content area that rotates through the six leading stories. Below the featured content area is a grid of the latest news headlines with brief excerpts.

Tech Radar

The website header includes a 730 x 90 banner, and the sidebar contains some other banners and text link ads. The navigation on TechRadar is a bit different as it uses tabs for news, reviews, blogs, and forums.

Wired
The design for Wired is rather unique. Most notably, thumbnails, headlines and excerpts of featured content reside above the main navigation menu. Thumbnails are used below for the most recent article in each of seven different categories.

Wired

The header includes no banners, just an internal advertisement for WiredBiz. The sidebar contains a few ads as well as additional monetization through a job board widget that links to recent job postings on the website’s job board.

The Huffington Post
The layout and design of individual pages on The Huffington Post is quite different than that of the home page. On individual pages you see a small logo/branding area at the top left, with a very long banner on the right that takes up most of the width of the page. Advertisements throughout the rest of the page are fairly minimal.

Huffington Post

On the home page, most of the area above the fold is used for a headline and image from a featured article. The rest of the home page includes a lot of images and headlines, as well as post excerpts from a variety of writers in the left sidebar.

Sporting News
The Sporting News has one of the most outdated designs. The header is used primarily for displaying scores, but with less space efficiency than other major sports websites. Above the header is a 730 by 90 banner.

Sporting News

Much of the real estate of the sidebar is used for directing visitors to other sections of the website, such as Sporting News Radio, the Blog Network and community blogs.

Related posts

You may want to take a look at the following related posts:

  • Award-Winning Newspaper Designs
    This post is supposed to provide you with some examples of outstanding newspaper designs which have been rewarded with prestigious awards (see references at the bottom of this post), and demonstrate unusual approaches of newspaper design.

(al)

Steven Snell is a Web designer and blogger. In addition to maintaining his own blog and writing for a number of other top design blogs, he also manages an online shop that offers premium graphic design resources. Steven's profile at Google+.

  1. 101

    so unfair >.> I wanted the 100th post

    -7
  2. 102

    STUPID SITE, YOU CAN’T BLOCK ME….

    FOR I AM
    ARLENE PHILIPS!!!!!!

    -1
  3. 103

    Wel said arlene phillips

    0
  4. 104

    EVERYBODY LOOK

    spelling mistake, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

    -4
  5. 105

    shit i can’t spell now
    thanks martha

    -1
  6. 106

    and for once it wasn’t made that did it! hahahahahahaha

    0
  7. 107

    Martha’s contagious!!!

    Teeheee

    0
  8. 108

    Leigh i just read what you said
    how very dare you i can spell it just slipped under my radar

    +1
  9. 109

    That’s exactly what happens to b#me too…. >.> <.<

    0
  10. 110

    *tumbleweed*

    0
  11. 111

    leigh you taunter

    0
  12. 112

    AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    Have you seen those people on the logo????!!!!
    They look wickid man, yeah i’m done with the kids!!!

    0
  13. 113

    nearly made a boo boo there

    0
  14. 114

    So NOW you’re insulting the logo? NOT COOL

    0
  15. 115

    i have never used the term boo boo before
    and i NEVER will again

    0
  16. 116

    wow I feel special for witnessing that, Marie

    0
  17. 117

    damn it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    0
  18. 118

    Yeah so maybe we got distracted from the original point but what we were trying to say before is-

    Yer’ layout is shit man!!!

    (and stop saying i’m posting too quickly, it’s annoying as hell!!!)

    0
  19. 119

    Leigh swore
    For Shame!!!!!!!!
    like you said to me bitch

    0
  20. 120

    OMM! You can’t say that!!!!!

    0
  21. 121

    My last post was directed at Leigh btw

    0
  22. 122

    I STILL CAN’T SEE THE COMMENT PAGE!!!!!

    WHAT IS UP WITH THIS SITE?

    0
  23. 123

    NEITHER CAN I AND IT IS PISSING ME OFF
    I LIKE THIS WEBSITE BUT GOD I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    0
  24. 124

    ……… we like your banner though

    0
  25. 125

    na na :P I can see the comments

    0
  26. 126

    ¬.¬

    Smug git!

    0
  27. 127

    no come back either, i rule!!!!

    0
  28. 128

    Are you still there Marie????

    0
  29. 129

    Hush you. You have no opinion cause you can’t read the comments :P

    0
  30. 130

    YES why do want to know if i am still there
    ARE YOU A STALKER LEIGH?

    0
  31. 131

    *laughs hysterically*

    HAHAHAHAHAHA MARTHA!!! Stop posting too fast, Steven Snell will murder you as well.

    Do you think he’s Santa?

    0
  32. 132

    no you retard

    0
  33. 133

    Nah, Santa’s too busy with all the presents to make a website. LEIGHS A STALKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    0
  34. 134

    ….. that is a serious and hurtful comment Marie!!!!!

    AND NO I AM NOT A STALKER YOU STRANGE KID!!!!

    0
  35. 135

    shouldnt ask those sort of questions then
    it was a easy mistaka to maka

    0
  36. 136

    *sighs in exasperation*

    Should’ve been a doctor………

    0
  37. 137

    mistaka to maka…..?

    0
  38. 138

    yes martha i said that
    it was italien can’t spell that either
    its all good
    shame we forgot to do IT
    but what are you gonna do

    0
  39. 139

    oh i am terribly sorry Mister Snell, i never rated your site…..

    I give it…………………………….. *drumroll*

    4 STARS

    If i could actually see the bloody comments it would be a grand five but sadly i can’t rate due to the same malfunction that doesn’t enable me to see comments, sooooo………..

    TOUGH TITS!!

    0
  40. 140
  41. 141

    E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

    YOU FORGOT THE E!!!!

    0
  42. 142

    no i nivver
    proper scouse there

    0
  43. 143

    Bella voice!!!!!

    0
  44. 144

    I don’t even have the voting button on my computer >.<
    *gets out tiny violin*

    0
  45. 145

    F**k you bitch, i am going to KILL you

    0
  46. 146

    *runs away!!!!!!!!*

    …… Meh. I had a good run!!!

    0
  47. 147

    *gets out popcorn and watches*

    0
  48. 148

    wait till you are asleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    0
  49. 149

    EDWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    YOU WATCH ME WHEN I SLEEP????!!!!

    What an Edward Cullen, freak

    0
  50. 150

    i am not an edward, edward would never kill bella
    i am going to kill you

    0
  51. 151

    O.O
    Harsh?
    Calling someone Edward is practically abuse

    0
  52. 152
  53. 153

    >.>

    Calling someone Edward is harsher than killing them?????

    Weirdo’s!!

    0
  54. 154

    Yes. Finally you understand. You got there eventually…

    0
  55. 155

    *hugs site*
    I know you’ll miss us
    byeeeeee!!!!

    0
  56. 156

    this is probably my last comment
    love the site but sort out the comments page so that everyone can enjoy them
    this is me departing
    auf wiedersehen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    0
  57. 157

    Hurray!!!

    I concur with Marie, apparantly it doesn’t have an ‘E’ on the end….. WHO KNEW?????????

    Tschus

    0
  58. 158

    Hurray!!!!

    I concur with Marie, yes it’s spellt with no ‘E’ on the end…. WHO KNEW??!!!!!

    Tschus

    *hugs site*

    0
  59. 159

    Received mine a few hours after leaving a comment here yesterday, haha! :) So glad it finally arrived! Thanks.

    0
  60. 160

    this website is damn helpful…helped me a big deal in my assignment…:)

    0
  61. 161

    Sometimes they look cluttered and really hard to look at, or maybe it’s just me. LOL

    Carl

    0
  62. 162

    This is an awesome read, great information and very well put together. Thank you for the insight, it confirmed my theory.

    0
  63. 163

    I primarily use guardian as it’s more HTML based.

    0
  64. 164

    This is a great article, wonderful read and the screenshots are perfect for illustration. This is one of those articles that kept going and going, but in a good way because I wanted more and more, an absolute delight :) If I could add one more to this list it would be the unique design at videotwitter.net

    0
  65. 165

    this a strong article , but i saw almost of this sites rely on protal-style layout to run content in site ,
    i want ask you ( writer of article Or any one ) about which global or famous trends to gedign online news .
    thanx for all about information-dense
    a researsher PHD

    -1
  66. 166

    งานออนไลน์

    May 12th, 2011 5:13 am

    Nice! I that This single website very ultimate. Them makes i the knowledge. Them is the website that are so much knowledge. me sense best at came form the this websites Thanks a lot and me will stop to visiting this sites frequenty thanks.

    -1
  67. 167

    Seagrass Chairs

    May 16th, 2011 12:21 am

    This blogging site is awesome I’ll really have to read through everything, thanks for sharing. Seagrass Furniture

    -1
  68. 168

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    -1
  69. 169

    Tuscan Decor

    May 17th, 2011 9:18 am

    Great! This was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get something done. Tuscan Decor

    -1
  70. 170

    Danica Clacher

    June 16th, 2011 11:32 pm

    Good day! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having trouble finding one? Thanks a lot!

    -1
  71. 171

    I must say I really don’t like the international look of newspaper design. There are too many links, from top to bottom, in too many columns. In Sweden, for example, you have a tradition of a more clean look, where you more easily can see what news are the most important right now. Checkout http://www.dn.se or http://www.norran.se for example.

    +1
  72. 172

    Cool….have to do a report for school…..very helpful!

    +1
  73. 174

    Glad to see there’s a Slider with a proper keyboard layout. The one I got to test in the last weeks came with that awful European layout, with the bigger enter and the tiny Left Shift. The same Asus uses for all laptops in my country and a total fail in my eyes.

    0

  1. 1

    Very nice collection, great post. But, I expected to people read more about the golden ratio with newspaper design on this post. Ciao everybody.

    +3
  2. 2

    Would be nice to know if they have a plataform (cms) in common, because there are some similar layouts, don’t you think?

    +2
  3. 3

    While you may not understand the content, Norwegian newspapers have shown that they know how to keep their users from leaving their site. Take a look at http://www.db.no and http://www.aftenposten.no. These designs are totally different to the sites you list, with long scrolling front pages, large images, that keeps the user longer than usual. Compared to the sites above, after a casual reader has read the main headlines, he will leave, but on these sites, he will read until he reaches the bottom. Keep in mind users usually read a story, click the back button to see if there is more to read. With scrolling content, there’s always more to read below, compared to most of these 1 to 1/2 page long sites.

    +1
  4. 4

    Martin. 27

    Your links are inactive.

    +1
  5. 5

    Great list, but please please do not use the term ‘rather unique’ (or any variant) – something is either unique or it isn’t!! :) (Sorry, just a pet hate;))

    Some great examples of design here, though.

    +1
  6. 6

    bz00: Tabbed browsing would do you good ;) Use firefox or a newer iteration of IE, and ctrl+click/command+click/middle-click on the links

    +1
  7. 7

    Wow.. another great round up..! :)

    +1
  8. 8

    What a great write-up. The sheer volume of sites and screenshots here is fantastic. One of the many obvious themes is that although print may be dying out as a medium, its design principles continue to be carried out to the web. Awesome job as always!

    +1
  9. 9

    Leigh i just read what you said
    how very dare you i can spell it just slipped under my radar

    +1
  10. 10

    I must say I really don’t like the international look of newspaper design. There are too many links, from top to bottom, in too many columns. In Sweden, for example, you have a tradition of a more clean look, where you more easily can see what news are the most important right now. Checkout http://www.dn.se or http://www.norran.se for example.

    +1
  11. 11

    Cool….have to do a report for school…..very helpful!

    +1
  12. 12

    Yeah, me 2! Love t z website! C u 2marrow! Tell me what grade u get!

    +1

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