CBSSports.com Redesigns, Builds Blogging Capacity

CBS Sports.com is figuring on boosting its user base and usage time with new blogging features and other aspects aimed at engaging Web surfers.

All-Star and Superstar site members, who achieve their ranks based on activity levels and interaction with other members, can now create their own blogs on the site. Blog entries that get high ratings from the site community will be posted on the CBSSports.com front page.

“We’ve definitely made a lot of changes on the Web site that speak to engagement,” said Bill Ruhl, CBSSports.com director of production.

The site has nearly 180,00 members, with more than 40,000 eligible to create their own sports blogs, according to Ruhl.

Over the past year, Superstar bloggers have written live game accounts—called glogs—alongside of accounts written by the official CBSSports.com blogger. The practice started during last year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and gained a lot of traction during the baseball season, Ruhl said.

Enhancements to message boards have made them more user friendly. And CBSSports.com has incorporated more information and features on team sites, seeking to make the fan experience on the site more team-centric. Most fans are more avidly interested in the teams they follow, so improving the team sites is clearly a loyalty play.

CBSSports.com draws 7 million unique visitors monthly, approximately half the traffic that ESPN.com draws. But it has topped other major sports sites in recent months in number of visits per person—a 7.5 average in December, along with average usage of 58 minutes monthly.

The sports site figures increased participation, through member blogs and glogs, can only boost those numbers.

CBSSports.com has also reconfigured its CBS Sports Store, giving a cosmetic makeover and improving navigation with rollover functionality for easier browsing.