In the first part of the workshop, Vitalie Harea referred to the steps that webmasters should take in developing and managing online content, including in adapting to search engines and advertising servers. "The reader enters your site to get their information but will stay longer and will return if they like what the site looks like. Pay attention to the color palettes, fonts, and text formatting; more often use subtitles that capture the reader's attention. Make sure that users can easily reach the information they want in two or three clicks. As an expert of the Consulting and Assistance Center, I have assessed several regional media outlets and noticed that the site loading time was very long. To remove such issues, optimize the images, reduce their volume, check if the hosting offered by the specialized companies is not slow and does not reduce the page loading speed,” Vitalie said. “If you are developing a new site, make the mobile version first, because currently, over 70% of users enter your site from their phones and browsing must be pleasant and accessible. If you want to be visible in search engines, you must produce as much content of your own as possible, use links that lead to other stories within the site but also use RSS feed and Sitemap.”

In the second part of the training, V. Harea presented a series of tools for checking and testing site performance, such as Web.Dev or Webmaster Tools, but also free tools and applications that can be useful in working with images and with the sound of videos on social media. To exemplify how such tools can be used, he checked and demonstrated the technical performance of the sites and some tips to improve certain indicators to the training participants.

The online workshop participants noted its practical applicability. “In the past year, I have attended several webinars held by API experts and, each time, I learned new and useful things. I am particularly interested in online webinars and I strive to apply in practice what I learn, which also affects the quality of the site I manage,” says Andrei Culicov, director of the HN24.net news portal of Hâncești. Another participant, Svetlana Cernov, administrator of Estcurier.md website of Criuleni, ‘discovered’ a few online tools that can improve the external appearance of the websites. "I was impressed with the benefits of Adobe color (working with color palettes) and Web.dev (checking site performance). The latter enables one to check the status of the site at any time, and after making some improvements, to see how quality has changed. For the next training, it would be good to have as many practical assignments as possible, so that we strengthen our theoretical knowledge," S. Cernov concluded.

Full online workshop recording is available HERE.

This month, API has also held a workshop for print media layout staff, entitled: "Role and Place of Print in Mobile/Digital World." Between August 2020 and June 2021, other 16 thematic webinars for media staff were held at the Consulting and Assistance Center for Regional Independent Media Outlets, attended by over 250 media staff.

In June 2021, the services of the Center’s consultants benefited a total of 62 staff of 26 newsrooms and 587 media professionals in the last ten months. The Consulting and Assistance Center will operate until the end of July 2021, and newsrooms can use the consultant services whenever needed, by accessing the application on the website www.Api.md.

The project ”Program of Assistance for Independent Regional Media Outlets” is implemented by the Association of Independent Press Association (API) and funded by the US Embassy in the Republic of Moldova. The opinions expressed within the project belong to the authors of the project and do not necessarily correspond to those of the US Embassy.