Fast-growing Media Site, ViralNova.com, Needs An Awesome Face Lift

Viral Nova

We post the most viral news and entertainment stories on the Web. The target audience is very broad, pretty much anyone.

http://www.viralnova.com

We want something very clean, first and foremost. The current layout is pretty much fine (see attachments for some changes). White background with dark text on it, and some nice color additions placed tastefully. We are a site for news and stories, but not the traditional kind like a NY Times or something. We are somewhere between NY Times and BuzzFeed.

We are open to different color schemes. Orange variations are always nice and blue, too. Not opposed to others if they work. Just nothing too entirely vibrant. We want to look professional, yet informal.

The single post page is the one we need to give an attractive facelift to. This would of course include the header, footer, etc which will be site-wide, but specifically, the single post page is the most important.

Ex: http://www.viralnova.com/crying-cop/

Do not over complicate things. We really want to keep the simplicity of the current layout - just give it a bit of a facelift that makes it look better.

Go here for reference: http://www.viralnova.com/crying-cop/ And see the 2 attached screenshots where I made notes for guidance. Here are the main things I need addressed:

1. A very very thin area at the top of the site for some categories to be listed horizontally
2. a logo that maybe pops out a little more - the tagline "trending stories on the web" isn't really necessary, that can be nixed.

3. ad placement stays the same at the top. the title of the article is mostly the same

4. the like button can be removed, and i need to somehow incorporate a Share on Facebook button up here. You can include the date/category where ever you want. Not too picky about that.

5. The captions are ugly right now. Would love to see them look nicer, especially when there's a lot of text. Maybe enclosed in a box or a border, or something.

6. The right hand column lists all the Must See Stories. I like these as they are now, but some minor facelifts and additions could look really nice. As well as the header "Must See Stories"

7. When you get to the bottom, that's where there are some changes need. The Share on Facebook button should be 300px wide with a 300px ad under it... then the Like Us on Fb can be 300px wide with a 300px email subscriber call out right under it. In theory should create a nice looking symmetrical layout down there.

8. All of these icons and the email call out, etc need to be redesigned/upgraded. The Share on Facebook one should retain the same color and same words. I don't want to change it too much because it's pretty standard, but if you see remove for it to look a little nicer, go for it. The Like Us On Facebook call out could be modeled after it slightly but obviously different color and something that makes sense. The email call out's design, well I'll leave it up to your imagination but hoping for something really eye-catching. That whole right section (FB Like Us and Email call out), we are trying to really naturally lead visitors to after reading the article. Since those are how we'll retain them forever as visitors.

9. And last, not pictured, I would like 4 more Related Content pieces underneath that area. 2x2 should be fine with the thumbnails probably being 300px wide, in proportion to the right column's sizes. I'm open to different looks with this, but in a nutshell, I'd like 4 or maybe 6 (if it looks better) related posts.

I think that sums everything up. Please let me know if you have any questions.