the official website

[Alex the Blue]

You can't please all the people all of the time but I think it's very good.

 

[unexpected item]

The website was groundbreaking when it was launched but I think they need to keep it under constant review. The users need to be fully trained in the maintenance of the content and if content is deleted, then delete any links pointing to it. An example is this page, which is linked from the 'related content' at the bottom of the Mancini profile page http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Team-news/2011/June/AE-Fixture-Part-two.

EDIT: This link's dead now, so someone from the OS must be reading this thread. Good work, keep it up!

As for the EDS/Academy stuff, there are regular previews and reports from games, but it is buried too deep in the site so it's easy to overlook it. There is no Academy link on the top menu and you can't configure the front page to create your own academy link under the main photo where ticket info, most read, twitter box are located. Oh, and that twitter box has been blank for a couple of weeks now.

 

[greasedupdeafguy]

The website was groundbreaking when it was launched but I think they need to keep it under constant review. The users need to be fully trained in the maintenance of the content and if content is deleted, then delete any links pointing to it. An example is this page, which is linked from the 'related content' at the bottom of the Mancini profile page http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Team-news/2011/June/AE-Fixture-Part-two.

As for the EDS/Academy stuff, there are regular previews and reports from games, but it is buried too deep in the site so it's easy to overlook it. There is no Academy link on the top menu and you can't configure the front page to create your own academy link under the main photo where ticket info, most read, twitter box are located. Oh, and that twitter box has been blank for a couple of weeks now.

Their has been some improvement made with the EDS/Academy content with preview and reports but compared with other top teams it is still very minimal.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.liverpoolfc.com/team/academy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.liverpoolfc.com/team/academy</a>

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.arsenal.com/reserves-youth" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.arsenal.com/reserves-youth</a>

Thats the type of content the website should have imo.

 

[jrb]

Not sure if this is relevant to the thread, but we seem to be lagging behind.

Taken from The Drum.

Manchester United top the table for Premier League search visibility but Chelsea leads on social shares according to new research

Manchester United top the table for Premier League search visibility

Research from search and social analytics software company, Searchmetrics, has found that Manchester United’s website is the most visible Premier League website when it comes to Google UK searches. In its analysis into the online visibility of 20 Premier League teams’ sites Searchmetrics also discovered that though Manchester United have the most visible website rivals Chelsea Football Club lead the way when it comes to visibility on social networks.

Using an SEO Visibility Score to measure how prominently and frequently websites rank in Google UK search results, Manchester United scored an impressive 44,954, with runners up Arsenal racking up 42,784, followed by Liverpool and Chelsea with 32,176 and 30,547 respectively. Current Premier League champions, Manchester City, ranked sixth with an SEO Visibility of 14,974.

Marcus Tober, founder and CTO of Searchmetrics explained: “When it comes to the web, in many ways Premier League football clubs act like media businesses. They try to attract visitors and fans to their official sites where they can engage with them and potentially sell tickets, hospitality packages and merchandise. They compete with newspaper publishers, broadcasters and online media, making visibility in search engines and social media a vital part of their online marketing.

“Our study shows, some clubs are doing really well with their search engine optimisation (SEO) and social networking strategies, but others are falling behind. This could potentially affect revenues and who knows - possibly even their ability to bring in money for players and hence performance on the pitch.”

Social network visibility was measured using a Social Visibility score based on how often content from a website is shared, liked, Tweeted, etc. Chelsea were found to be leading the way with a Social Visibility score of 50,363,039, much of Chelsea’s lead is down to a strong Google+ presence which was found to be responsible for 68 per cent of Chelsea’s social shares.

Tober added: “Social media is the perfect forum for clubs to engage with fans and what’s interesting is how some clubs, such as Chelsea and Liverpool have embraced newer networks such as Google+. This not only spreads their content further, but many SEO specialists believe Google+ activity plays a role in determining Google’s search engine rankings.”
.
Read more at <a class="postlink" href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/10/24/manchester-united-top-table-premier-league-search-visibility-chelsea-leads-social#vpArWcA1Kx2UjpvI.99" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/10/24/ ... x2UjpvI.99</a>

Just to add.

The lack of any regular updates on the training complex which is currently under construction is pretty poor in my opinion. As it stands one of the most important proposals, and a proposal the club should showcasing be at every given opportunity, is tucked away somewhere on the website with little or no current news or updates.(articles, photographs, videos, interviews, etc)

 

[akcity]

What are people's thoughts on it? It constantly gets labelled the best in the league but is that purely because of the layout and design which is pretty good as opposed to the content which imo is pretty poor?

CityTV is good but is it good because it is free? Would anyone pay for the video content on there?

The Academy and EDS section is non existent, no information on any players, there is no player profile for Suarez or Evans etc but then again it shouldn't be no surprise when the first team players pics are still in last season's kicks when we are 3 days away from being in November.

I think it could be a lot better if a lot of the small things were done properly.

I guess it depends what you want...

The Fixtures tab has EDS and Academy fixtures including match reports and ticket info. There is Academy info on the Club tab.

There is also the Academy app.

If you use the 'search' facility you can see news etc on EDS or Academy.

I'm not fussed what shirt the player photos have, could be in fancy dress for all I care! Incidentally, Rodwell is in the new away shirt and Garcia, Sinclair are holding the new shirt if that makes you feel better but like I say, it depends what you want from the website.

 

[Cry Me A Weaver]

Would it be too much to ask for the fixture list to include the day of the week? Picky I know but I'm too thick to instantly calculate days of the week for dates more than a week ahead let alone 3 months ahead.

 

[WNRH]

What are people's thoughts on it? It constantly gets labelled the best in the league but is that purely because of the layout and design which is pretty good as opposed to the content which imo is pretty poor?

CityTV is good but is it good because it is free? Would anyone pay for the video content on there?

The Academy and EDS section is non existent, no information on any players, there is no player profile for Suarez or Evans etc but then again it shouldn't be no surprise when the first team players pics are still in last season's kicks when we are 3 days away from being in November.

I think it could be a lot better if a lot of the small things were done properly.

I guess it depends what you want...

The Fixtures tab has EDS and Academy fixtures including match reports and ticket info. There is Academy info on the Club tab.

There is also the Academy app.

If you use the 'search' facility you can see news etc on EDS or Academy.

I'm not fussed what shirt the player photos have, could be in fancy dress for all I care! Incidentally, Rodwell is in the new away shirt and Garcia, Sinclair are holding the new shirt if that makes you feel better but like I say, it depends what you want from the website.

My point about the players in last season's shirt is about professionalism not about making me feel better.

 

[DalbeyINUK]

I would drop 15 dollars(not pounds) a month for access to streaming or on demand access to reserve and youth team matches. THAT is what would take the site over the top in my mind.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

I think it should be brighter, sky blue instead of dark blue for the title.

Also should have every EDS and U18 game streamed on there.

Should have a direct link to tickets website, put logging in one place and applicable to all parts of the site, more videos/behind the scenes etc.

 

[beermusic]

the cityapp seems to have been withdrawn - disappeared from all my phones and no longer in the App Store. the OS now is optimised for smartphone use anyway, so is better than the app was as there were things missing eg ticket news.