While delivering accurate and unbiased business news is the main focus of the brand, its broad perspective in the areas of politics, art, travel and leisure add to its universal appeal. The newspaper is enjoyed by a diverse set of readers, from the head honcho of a multinational corporation to an enthusiastic management intern striving to climb the corporate ladder.

As one of the oldest newspapers in India, the Economic Times has played an important role in shaping business and industry in the country. From the protectionist era of the 1960’s and the political turmoil in the 1970’s, to the stock market boom in the 1990's, the Economic Times has kept readers abreast with information, establishing itself as a leader in the business news space.

The ET brand projects a style that is fresh, contemporary and with loads of attitude. While it conforms to the traditional values of a newspaper—accuracy and timeliness—it does not restrict itself to conventional thinking. It strives to be smart, insightful and innovative in its reporting and aims to be a constant leader in newspaper publishing, both print and online.

With the growth of Internet users in India, and to serve its Non Resident Indian (NRI) readers, ET decided to take its print edition to the web. We decided to flip through the Economic Times' online entity to see if it captures the essence of the ET brand.

Unlike its print version, which is clean and well laid out, the website unfortunately opens up to a homepage that offers a mixture of information, confusing the reader as to how the content is organized and where to begin reading.

Given that most users would visit the site to read about the latest economic and political developments, it is disappointing to see the section on "Latest News" tucked away on the right hand corner of the site. Because other sections appear in a larger font size, the latest news link is obfuscated in a crowd of content. Perhaps the ET brand could take a cue from a competing newspaper brand in India, Business Standard, where the main area of the site highlights the recent headlines with links to the full story.

Thankfully, going beyond the homepage reveals a website that is better organized and easier to browse. For instance, clicking on the news section allows you to browse articles by company, economy and industry. The categorization of news articles by industry is a definite plus of the web edition over the print version, as it allows readers to visit the relevant sections without skimming through the entire site. Also, readers have the option of browsing news alphabetically by company, which is a convenient method for users to access corporate news.

Given its business focus, the site has a dedicated section on personal finance that provides advice on everything related to personal money management, from fixed deposits and mutual funds to tax savers and property. The ET Personal Finance Tool in this section is an interactive feature that allows visitors to calculate the amount of savings they generate over a given time period.

Perhaps the section that is truly reflective of the ET character is the opinions page. Here you will find an interesting mix of columnists who express their views on diverse topics. Though the topics are often serious and complex, the columnists use lucid language and witty humor that appeals to an informed demographic of readers.

In terms of content, the online paper replicates the stories of the print edition with no compromise on quality. A definite plus is the "Discuss" option located at the end of articles, which allows readers to discuss the piece online with anyone who is logged onto the public chat feature. This is a good tool to promote interaction, but the provision of posting comments would perhaps be a more simplistic and convenient way to facilitate a public discussion.

The site designers could improve the layout to ensure better navigability of content. While the ET print layout intelligently uses grid, color and font size to provide cues on how the information is supposed to be consumed, the online site does not arrange the information as well. Design and layout goes a long way in garnering a slice of the online news readership pie, and the brand could take a few pointers from sites like The Times (London) and the San Francisco Chronicle, which have effectively used color, shade boxes and font size to present their content.

The site designers could also look into removing the intrusive online Google ads interspersed throughout the content. The prime focus should be on news content, since that is the only reason why readers visit. Ads can be placed beyond the homepage or else they might distract and confuse the reader.

In all, a few cosmetic changes in terms of layout, design and presentation is all that’s needed for the online proposition to garner the same degree of loyalty that the print edition enjoys.