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nytimes.com

C+

68/100

Ranked #10,158 of 46,880 sites

Media / Content / PublishingSeries A
C+

nytimes.com

68/100 · #10,158 of 46,880

homepagerankings.com

Media / Content / Publishing Benchmarks

How you compare to 6,908 Media / Content / Publishing sites

Overall
68+6 vs median
Product Clarity
19-24 vs median
CTA Effectiveness
57
ICP Targeting
45+7 vs median
First Impression
52+24 vs median
Pricing Page
15+15 vs median

Gray line = Media / Content / Publishing median

Analysis

Nytimes scores 68 out of 100 on homepage messaging, earning a C+ grade — mixed. Across all 30,134 sites analyzed, that's above the median of 59. Within Media / Content / Publishing, where the median is 62, Nytimes lands 6 points above the industry average.

The hero text reads: "New York Times - Top Stories". Lacks action verbs. The hero does not describe what the product actually does, just makes a vague claim. The language is generic — a visitor can't tell what the product does from the headline alone. With a clarity score of 19, Nytimes is below the overall median of 36.

The page has 7 CTAs, 1 of them above the fold. The primary CTA "Contact Us" is generic — 'Learn more' and 'Get started' don't tell visitors what happens next.

Audience targeting is decent — there are audience signals, but room to be more specific. Detected audience: B2B SaaS. The site uses a "for [X]" pattern: "coverage of U". ICP clarity score: 45 (above the median of 35).

On the pricing page: Enter your pricing page URL directly (try https://nytimes.com/pricing) for a full analysis.

The biggest opportunities for Nytimes: Clarity is 17 points below median — the hero text needs to say what the product does in plain language.

Fix These First

up to +39 pts

Ranked by estimated impact on your overall score

#1

Rewrite your hero headline

Generic language — visitors can't tell what you do from the headline alone

+18 ptsClarity
#2

Add a CTA to your pricing page

Pricing page has no clear call-to-action — visitors can't convert

+8 ptsPricing
#3

Add a free tier or annual billing option

Low-commitment entry points (free tier, annual discount) reduce purchase friction

+5 ptsPricing
#4

Rewrite your meta description

Generic meta description — this is what shows up in Google results

+4 ptsClarity
#5

Make your CTA more specific

"Get started" is generic — tie it to an outcome ("Start building" or "See your report")

+4 ptsCTA

First Impression

D (52/100)

A visitor would think this is a b2b saas for coverage of u that offers something unclear.

What kind of company?clear

B2B SaaS

Who is it for?clear

coverage of U

What does it do?missing

Unknown

What's the benefit?vague

Status / Identity / Belonging

What's the vibe?vague

Neutral

Gaps:

  • -Product function unclear from above-fold copy. Visitors cannot tell what this does.
  • -Value proposition is weakly communicated. Benefits are implied, not stated.

Suggested Rewrites

Better copy based on your product signals — click to copy

Primary CTA

Current

Contact Us

Tying your CTA to a specific outcome increases click-through

Meta Description

Current

Live news, investigations, opinion, photos and video by the journalists of The New York Times from more than 150 countr…

This is what shows in Google results — specificity drives higher click-through rates

A/B Test Ideas

Specific experiments to run, ranked by expected impact

Test adding "free" or "no card required" to your primary CTA

Risk-reducing modifiers typically lift click-through 10-15%

medium

Test a "free" modifier on your CTA: "Contact Us" vs "Contact Us — Free"

"Free" is the highest-converting modifier across 27K+ homepages analyzed

medium

Test a hero headline that names your product category explicitly

Generic headlines force visitors to scroll to understand what you sell. Test naming the category in the first 5 words.

high

Test adding social proof above the fold (customer count, logos, or testimonial)

No social proof detected. Even one trust signal ("Join 500+ teams") can lift conversions significantly.

medium

Test adding an annual/monthly billing toggle with a discount

Annual billing toggles with visible savings ("Save 20%") are a standard conversion lever.

low

Messaging Clarity

Who is this for?58/100
What problem does this solve?77/100
What does this actually do?58/100
Why this over alternatives?66/100
CTA effectiveness57/100

CTA Analysis

C+ (57/100)

Total CTAs

7

Above Fold

1

Best CTA

Tier 3

Contact Us
T3 · 57/100
Trump Posted a Picture of Himself as Jesus. Now He’s Trying to Explain It Away.
above foldT3 · 50/100
‘We Finally Have Democracy’: Hungarians Erupt in Joy and Relief
T3 · 45/100
Eric Swalwell’s Fall Punctuates Woes of Democrats in California
T3 · 45/100
Subscribe
T3 · 45/100
Book Review
T4 · 37/100

What Do You Sell?

F (19/100)

In 5 words:

The New York Times

Hero

generic

New York Times - Top Stories

Meta Description

generic

Live news, investigations, opinion, photos and video by the journalists of The New York Times from more than 150 countries around the world. Subscribe for coverage of U.S. and international news, politics, business, technology, science, health, arts, sports and more.

ICP Clarity

C- (45/100)

Detected audience

decent

B2B SaaS

industryB2B SaaS

Pricing Page

F (15/100)
Pricing page found
Clear CTA on pricing
Free tier or trial
Annual billing option
FAQ section
Feature comparison
Social proof

How You Compare

vs. other Media / Content / Publishing sites in the index

Dimensionnytimes.comkeap.comzight.cominfusionsoft.…managewp.com
Overall6887-1987-1987-1986-18
Clarity1959-40100-8159-40100-81
CTA5775-186075-1875-18
ICP454691-464615+30
1st Impr.5260-860-860-852
Pricing1595-8080-6595-80100-85

What We Analyzed

Title

The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos

Word count

1,119

Hero text

New York Times - Top Stories

Track Your Progress

This report was generated recently. Make changes to your homepage, then re-scan to see your new score.

nytimes.com scored 68/100.

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