Quality Over Quantity: How One Publication Grew Its Audience … By Publishing Fewer Stories

Less is more.

That’s not just a mantra to help get through spring cleaning.

Across all publishing departments, one learns pretty quickly how to do more with less. And in the case of the UK’s “paper of record,” The Times, a reduction in the amount of stories published — “fewer, better stories” — is being credited for its audience growth.

“We’ve had three consecutive months of all-time, record-breaking audience growth at The Times,” says deputy head of digital Anna Sbuttoni, “and we’re publishing fewer stories than we ever have.”

That growth, as discussed and described in Press Gazette, has come in the form of a 29% YoY increase in organic search traffic and a 7% increase in digital subscribers. The paper’s move away from an edition-based publishing model online has allowed stories to go up before they are in the print edition, meaning stories get better prominence and support.

“Sbuttoni said it is important to make sure a story ‘lands with impact, with audience support, with marketing support, a promotional plan,’” writes Press Gazette’s Charlotte Tobitt. “This is only possible under the new approach ‘because it’s really making the most of the resources we have.’”

And while there’s been a 25% cut in published stories, the reason has not been to cut costs or a need to reduce staff levels, which Sbuttoni says have remained neutral. 

Less is more, in this instance, because of the quality created.

“It’s about encouraging our subscribers to come back to the site, and quality is really at the heart of that.”