“The aim behind the new design was to reach our entire market, in addition, while 82% of our readers are on mobile, desktop usage during the day could climb as high as 37%, when people are at work. The custom designed Redactor platform allows us to deliver content on any size screen. We have had great success with video, and the new site allows us to incorporate social media and multimedia in a rich content environment,” say Ben Viljoen, deputy editor at Daily Sun.

Readers can enjoy exciting new features such as the GoMetro app which provides real time updates on public transport. The way comments are managed has been greatly improved with user moderation now in place. Facebook users can now access text, video, maps, tweets, and audio files through a single story.

“We chose the design to remain consistent with the print product, white on black headlines, picture heavy, and very little white space. The adaptability of the platform and the availability of editorial space to advertisers means the site can go far beyond the print edition in terms of native advertising as clients are not limited to the traditional advertorial,” says Viljoen.

An article by Daniel Schmidt, Understanding the South African Mobile Consumer, published on The MediaOnline states, “In this constantly connected world, South Africa, with 53 million inhabitants, is swiftly growing up on the digital front. A recent survey by ourmobileplanet.com found that 29 million South Africans use a mobile phone, 20.5 million a smartphone. It’s relatively easy to get a smartphone contract in South Africa and this has been good for our nation’s Internet penetration. The study found that of the country’s mobile users, 57% hardly ever use a desktop computer, reinforcing the perspective that mobile is the key to SA’s rapidly evolving digital scene.”

“Smartphone penetration in SA is at a healthy 40%, putting it above Brazil, Russia, India and Turkey. This means that advertisers have had to change the way they target South African consumers. The web users that do operate multiple devices are usually the ones with slightly more buying power, but behavioural shifts have seen consumers switching between devices while in the purchasing cycle. This behaviour is consistent within the SA market – and more smartphones translates into more confident mobile consumers. This can be seen in the data: people are using their phones to make transactions on sites that they trust and mobile conversions are up.”

The Daily Sun understand the need to stay ahead of the game, and designed an app that is very user friendly. The website upgrade ensures ease of use no matter what platform is used to consume the Daily Sun’s captivating content.

For more information on the Daily Sun, visit www.dailysun.co.za.