Simon & Schuster Digital is pleased to announce that, with the recent launch of newly redesigned home pages, it has entered the final phase of a rolling release that updates Simon & Schuster’s domestic and international websites in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.
The rebuilt sites make use of the latest in responsive web design to automatically reconfigure SimonandSchuster.com’s content according to screen size, providing an optimal experience no matter how the user comes to the site: via desktop browser, tablet or mobile devices.
The new sites’ bigger and bolder graphical elements recognize and support the latest trends in consumer behavior, particularly the unambiguous increase in the use of mobile devices and tablets to access information and entertainment. The highly respected technology blog Mashable recently declared that 2013 would be “The Year of Responsive Web Design” as more web developers move to accommodate this shift in traffic.
“In 2012 just 11% of traffic to our site came through mobile devices. One year later mobile represents 26% of traffic and the rate of growth is accelerating,” said Ellie Hirschhorn, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Simon & Schuster. “Our goal is to provide easy and direct access to the most relevant information to our readers wherever they are and on whatever device they are using, and responsive design allows us to accomplish that.”
Other changes to Simon & Schuster’s sites that visitors will notice include:
· Revised Book and Author pages: featuring simplified design, larger imagery, easier to read content, and more prominent links to online retailers
- Series Pages: New series pages offering volume data and other series-related content including more accessible links to Reading Group Guides, Activity Sheets, Teaching Resources, and Related Websites
· Flexible Home Page billboard: A bigger billboard that more prominently calls attention to featured books, authors, promotions and more.
· New Releases: Now featuring up to seven titles using a fluid grid with larger book cover images and a notation when a video is available for a given title.
· Bestsellers: Highlighting New York Times bestsellers with their list and rank number and deep links to the full list of S&S bestsellers.
· Video: Visitors can watch Simon & Schuster authors and book trailers in HD video in a new, larger format player with an enhanced playlist.
· Noted Authors: A new feature to help readers and fans to find favorite authors and discover new ones, and an invitation to “Become a Fan” in order to receive alerts about new books.
· Author Appearances: Highlighting upcoming national media appearances, top cities for local appearances, and authors with upcoming appearances.
· Straight from Our Authors: Showcasing recent “Author Revealed” Q&A’s and “Author Voices” blog posts allowing readers to get to know Simon & Schuster authors.
In addition to optimizing its domestic and international consumer sites, in the United States Simon & Schuster’s dedicated communities, PulseIt (for teens) and XOXO After Dark (for women’s fiction) feature mobile-optimized html5 e-readers, which enable visitors to read the books on mobile and tablet devices, thus supporting and enhancing the user experience for the high volume of mobile traffic to those sites.
Future plans include the rollout of responsive design to simonandschuster.net and simonandschuster.biz, its education/library and publishing trade support sites.
With the introduction of the new responsive simonandschuster.com, the company will retire its separate mobile site, simonandschuster.mobi.
To visit one of Simon & Schuster’s newly redesigned sites, go to:
http://www.simonandschuster.
http://www.simonandschuster.ca
http://www.simonandschuster.
http://www.simonandschuster.
Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com
