Torstar subsidiary Star Media Group has revamped Toronto.com by making it the entertainment section of TheStar.com (the online counterpart of the Toronto Star daily newspaper), promising advertisers increased traffic and additional ad formats.
Toronto.com’s senior product manager, Gerald Doyle, said the site – which was revamped officially re-launched earlier this month – combines TheStar.com’s entertainment journalism with Toronto.com’s traditional strength as a city guide and a source for entertainment listings.
“We had two very unique but distinct assets in that we had this quality entertainment journalism and all this entertainment-related information,” said Doyle. “We thought there was a way to put this together to create a richer consumer experience and also have a better offering for advertisers.”
The new Toronto.com also features several new ad units, including pre-roll video, push downs and splash units. “We really tried to make sure we’re best in class in the advertising world,” said Doyle, noting that future advertiser programs could include everything from “content alignment” to mapping functionality.
According to Doyle, there was only about 10% audience duplication between TheStar.com’s entertainment section and the old Toronto.com. He predicted that the new entity will produce a significant increase in web traffic.
“We expect that we’re going to be doubling traffic without having to do a heck of a lot,” he said.
While Toronto.com debuted 13 years ago and has been through numerous iterations since then (it was fully acquired by Torstar in 2003), Doyle described the current overhaul as the biggest in the site’s history. Other than the creation of some new content, Doyle said the revamp didn’t require significant capital investment. “There was an internal will do it and then it was just mobilizing around that,” he said.
Doyle said Toronto.com possesses powerful brand equity thanks in large part to its straightforward URL. “It’s a really great URL, and that helps us hugely in terms of SEO,” he said. “Anyone looking for anything in Toronto, we can really do well in whatever categories we focus on.”
While Toronto.com launched with a mobile-optimized version, Doyle said that a “Cadillac version” of the site for mobile device will debut in the next couple of months, followed by a move into the app space.
A consumer marketing campaign around the new Toronto.com is expected to debut in the summer.
