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 In the latest sports website profile, S&T finds out why English Premier League soccer club Fulham FC decided to revamp its website and why it thinks content is still king.
Finding the correct balance between quality content and revenue generation has fast become the Holy Grail of official soccer club websites. On the one hand, supporters want instant access to the latest news and features concerning their club while, on the other, common business sense dictates that revenue generation is the be-all and end-all. In reality, pursuing one and neglecting the other is a sure-fire way to limit to potential of your online presence - success lies in finding the correct balance.
That same methodology was applied to the recent redesign of www.fulhamfc.com, the official website of Fulham Football Club. In conjunction with Liquorice, Fulham FC's online partner, the task was set to put together a new-look website that would further integrate the content and revenue generating areas of the Club.
The previous incarnation of fulhamfc.com had served Fulham well, however, as commercial demands began to increase it became clear that a new format with a more up to date and flexible design was required.
The advantage of having strong graphic design and journalistic resources in-house instantly allowed the Club greater scope for producing and, more importantly, maintaining a well-presented, graphically attractive site that represented all facets of the Club.
Dom Guerra, Fulham's internet co-ordinator explains: "Strong content, attractive presentation and ease of use forms the backbone of any good website. We knew that those were our strong points so we didn't want stray too far from an already successful formula. However we also needed to give the main revenue generating areas of the Club a more prominent position on the site as well as giving the passing fan an easier route to purchasing tickets. Integrating the commercial side and the news side, without splitting the site in two was a challenge but we feel that we've hit the right mix." Hold the front page Prominent areas on the front page have been allocated exclusively for Club promotions and the main revenue generating areas are all represented. Front page sections for Ticket Sales, Corporate Hospitality, Official Merchandise and Season Ticket promotions all occupy prime locations throughout all areas of the site.
Other Club marketing initiatives have taken full advantage of the website with Friends of Fulham being the most recent. With the objective of making Fulham the most accessible Club in the Premiership, the Friends of Fulham campaign was set up to allow all people, whether full Season Ticket Holders or just potential fans, to receive regular updates via text and email on all the latest ticket news and special ticket offers direct from the Club.
Purchasing tickets online has also been made even easier with the implementation of a new online ticketing system from Seetickets. The online ticketing solution allows the Club to fully maximise ticket sales, whether it's to Season Ticket Holders, Members or to the public on general sale.
The new website continues to feature a strong supporter focus with exclusive, in-depth interviews with players and management. Fulhamfc.com is also one of the few official club sites to regularly supply completely free multimedia content in the form of player interviews and press conference coverage before and after matches. Providing such rich multimedia content completely free has helped the Official Fulham FC website to gain one of the highest visitor stay durations of all official Premiership club websites, which in-turn has helped to boost all other revenue generating aspects on the site. Multimedia content The Club's commitment to high-quality multimedia content also stretches to matchdays where live audio match commentary on all Premiership games is available, free to all. The service has been a long-standing trademark of fulhamfc.com with passionate (and sometimes biased) commentary being provided by fulhamfc.com's own commentator extraordinaire 'Gentleman' Jim McGullion. A lifelong Fulham fan, Gentleman Jim's coverage has built up a loyal army of listeners worldwide. He has even been known to receive the odd piece of fan mail!
Fulham TV's online highlights package allows supporters with broadband connections to view extended match highlights from all of Fulham's Premiership matches. Subscriptions can be paid monthly or with a one-off season-long payment. In addition to this, subscribers also gain access to an archive of highlights from all of Fulham League matches from the 2003/04 season.
The Official Message Board is another popular feature which provides supporters with a forum to discuss all matters Fulham. Registration is free and once logged in, supporters will be able to post on the most visited Fulham FC forum on the internet.
With the first stage of the website revamp successfully completed, the second stage is already underway. A series of new marketing and supporter centric features are already in the pipeline with the aim to keep fulhamfc.com at the forefront of official club websites.
(Also see this month's Infostrada Sports' Databox for some Fulham FC statistics).
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