Online in the South Sound - Would TNT's web site be better off with 'Tacoma' in the name?

A look at local web happenings

Friday, April 11th, 2008

Would TNT's web site be better off with 'Tacoma' in the name?

Posted by Mark Briggs @ 02:01:27 pm

Erik Emery lays out a nice case for why The News Tribune should add "Tacoma" back into its flag (and name). He wisely ties it into a pretty vibrant conversation at Exit 133 on the demise of the American newspaper, a topic that has been appearing on various blogs and business web sites for about 10 years now. (The drumbeat is louder these days, of course.)

I'm not about to pretend to have any influence here regarding changing the name of the news organization. And I can see both sides. As our editor Zeeck pointed out, staking a claim to an area that includes all of the South Sound made sense from a business and marketing perspective in 1987, and still does. But, as Emery points out, in the digital age, when search powers the web, the lack of "Tacoma" in our name hurts our Google Juice score.

In fact, Emery's example of the U.S. Open was an actual conversation in the newsroom here the day we broke the news. Several people asked me why our story wasn't coming up first on Google News that day when they searched for "U.S. Open Tacoma" because the story was "ours." Well, Google didn't know the story was "ours" and we didn't have "Tacoma" in our headline, our URL or the title of our site. Our headline was "U.S. Open Championship coming to Chambers Bay," which made perfect sense for our local audience. If we had written "U.S. Open Championship coming to Tacoma" our local readers would have laughed us off State Street. (Doesn't the Trib know Chambers Bay is in UP?!)

So, since we can't use "Tacoma" in most of our headlines without looking silly to our local audience, adding "Tacoma" to our name, URL and flag would definitely increase our search performance. Would that bring enough page views (aka advertising inventory) to make it worth the expense of new signs and stationary? And the potential alienating of our suburban markets? That's a question for someone above my pay grade, but the web certainly has changed the dynamics of the argument.

The question of how we will survive in the future remains an ongoing challenge, of course. Online readership is robust – we grew 36% in 2007 and matched that rate in the first quarter of 2008 – but can we find new ad dollars online as fast enough to make up for lost ad dollar in print? That's the challenge. The only sure thing is that newspapers will have to change on every front – news, advertising, online – to meet that challenge.

Let's just say it's not boring around here these days. ;)

Categories: TheNewsTribune.com, Local Webosphere • 12 comments

COMMENTS:

Comment by erikemery @ 14:29 - Friday, April 11th, 2008

Thanks for mentioning it, Mark! I'm of course a little biased as a big Tacoma supporter ... but I thought it was an interesting topic: would Google send more hits if your name was Tacoma News Tribune? Also, are random Google hits worse than hits from the area because they aren't as likely to be interested in more locally focused ads?

Tough calls. Good luck!

Erik Emery Hanberg

Comment by erikemery @ 15:18 - Friday, April 11th, 2008

... also, I should mention that Emery is my middle name, not the first part of a two-word last name ... :)

Comment by orcmid @ 15:27 - Friday, April 11th, 2008

I love this blog. Keep up the wicked questions.

Now, since I left Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest before Century 21 (returning to the Seattle area in 1999), it has always been the Tacoma News Tribune. I looked in my password safe and see that I have it listed that way.

I think centering the name on Tacoma is no big problem. It doesn't seem to bother other papers in the region to tie themselves to a central city that they serve.

But mostly it is how I am nostalgic all about it and you are welcome to the challenge of figuring it out, along with the publisher.

Comment by Mark Briggs @ 16:04 - Friday, April 11th, 2008

My bad, Erik. I know your last name is Hanberg but I guess the power of the URL was too much to overcome.

Maybe I can get a job as a Google searchbot?

Comment by Patty @ 17:37 - Friday, April 11th, 2008

I think the name "Tacoma" should be in the name of our local newspaper. Let's embrace our history and our great city and continue to promote the great name of our GREAT city !

Comment by johnesherman @ 14:58 - Saturday, April 12th, 2008

Yes because if somebody was to make a citation to even this article they would have to add the Tacoma name someplace; for example, Mark Briggs, Online in the South Sound, Would TNT's web site be better off with 'Tacoma' in the name?, The News Tribune (Tacoma), Apr. 11, 2008, available at http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/online, (last visited Apr. 12, 2008).

So, my vote for change to The Tacoma News Tribune; it follows, with Tacoma in the The News Tribune name allows readers to efficiently locate cited sources.

Comment by sinfonian @ 08:43 - Sunday, April 13th, 2008

The New York Times. The Washington Post. The Los Angeles Times. No confusion on where these prestigious papers hail from (albeit the Post uses the wrong Washington....)

Also, my parents live outside of Renton, and get The Seattle Times. It doesn't seem to bother them that unincorporated King County is underrepresented. My family enjoyed The Washington Post when we lived in Northern Virgina for a short time. The "South Sound Jobs" and "South Sound Cars" sections speak well to the regional nature of the paper.

Enough ramblin'...I miss the inclusion of Tacoma in the Mssthead!

Comment by gigatt @ 18:12 - Monday, April 14th, 2008

We could follow the lead of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim...

The News Tribune of Tacoma?

The South Sound News Tribune of Tacoma?

Maybe, to truly follow the Angels' lead we need to be the Seattle News Tribune of Tacoma?

Comment by Kevindot1 @ 21:23 - Monday, April 14th, 2008

Tacoma News Tribune

Bring it back. :)

Comment by papasan @ 22:34 - Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

I still refer to the paper as the TNT and probably always will. New residents probably have no idea what I'm referring to. Their problem, not mine.
What I'm seeing is that ,for most, it's a nostalgic thing. The thought that it would be easier to find a Google reference also makes sense. What hits a nerve though is the comment that it's attached to ad dollars. Why must every decision be driven by the almighty buck?
Sure, the paper is in business to make money and anyone that thinks their main reason for existing is to spread news is sadly deluded. But must it be the driving force. Why can't it be just because it's a good idea?

Comment by anonimal @ 11:03 - Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Bring back "Tacoma!" It would be a sign of the city's resurgence.

Comment by Ebjornson @ 22:22 - Friday, April 18th, 2008

http://i.feedtacoma.com/Erik/

The word Tacoma was likely dropped because it was perceived to be be a poor "brand" in the 1980s.

Seattle has extensive suburbs but still has the Seattle Time and the Seattle PI.

The Tribune's decision was not too unlike many other entities in the 1970s and 1980s.

Perhaps one day when the name "Tacoma" is believed to bring a benefit to the brand of the paper, the word Tacoma will be added back into it.

Tacoma is a city with 200,000 people in it, I think city residents will increasingly desire a paper that identified itself with Tacoma.

Comments are not allowed from anonymous visitors. Please login or register to comment.

Online in the South Sound

Mark Briggs is editor of thenewstribune.com, the flagship web site for The News Tribune newspaper in Tacoma, Wash. He has worked in new media for newspapers since 2000 and has contributed to workshops, seminars and textbooks on the topic. He will use this blog to track the evolution of the local webosphere and other emerging trends that are important to the South Sound region. Email Mark

Find free wifi