Science Illustrated Takes on the Web

Illustreret Videnskab/Science Illustrated has been online since 2001, but its content has been limited and the article archive has previously been available only to subscribers. Now Bonnier Publications, which publishes the magazine, will launch a much more comprehensive site with new technology and a fully open archive.

"We want people to visit the site and stay there," says Søren Berg, online manager for Illustreret Videnskab, Illustreret Videnskab Historie and National Geographic. "It means that more people will be able to see the high quality of these magazines, which will hopefully serve as a sales and marketing tool."

The Danish site has only been live for 14 days, but preliminary tests already suggest that people stay longer on the site and view more pages than before. The new sites in Sweden and Finland have just been released, and in the coming days Dutch and Norwegian sites will be launched.

The idea is to launch new websites for all three titles in all Bonnier Publications markets, and to create mechanisms that keep traffic flowing among the titles. According to the plan, 13 sites will be launched in 13 weeks, with all of them up and running before Christmas. A total of more than 6,000 archived articles from Illustreret Videnskab will be available to all visitors regardless of whether they are subscribers. The site will also be updated on a daily basis with popular science material: news, themes, image galleries, articles, contests, video links, newsletters, etc.

"Our philosophy is that the more we show, the more interesting it becomes for visitors to come to the site and subscribe to the magazines," says Søren Berg. "The project is divided into three phases. The first phase, where we create the basic sites with all the necessary functions, is now underway. In the next phase, which starts at the end of this year, we will create a new functionality that will be far better than that of our competitors. And in phase three, which is scheduled to begin in 2010, there will be further development. We're also looking at collaborating with other Bonnier companies."