For many the BBC News website is a staple read while they munch on a sandwich at lunch time.  Those devoted fans have been treated to a redesign in the last couple of weeks, but I must confess I've been pretty busy of late so today was the first time I really had a good poke around the new site.

I'm a little bit set in my ways, I know what I'm interested in and I know where in the site to find it.  So in the past when the Beeb have redesigned the site it's taken me a few months to learn to love the site again.  But, this most recent redesign suits me very well, the navigation is tidied up, and the typography is very clear.

However, one thing I noticed today which has changed significantly is the related links panel.  In the previous design this was on the right hand panel towards the top.  In the redesign it's now moved to the foot of the story, more along the lines of Wikipedia.

The key question this raises for me is what impact this will have on users who follow the links.  One of my clients, the Road Safety Foundation, regularly publishes stories that make it onto the BBC News Homepage, these articles usually link back to the Foundation website and we see a terrific increase in visitors from the BBC.

My feeling is that moving these links to the bottom of the page, makes them blend in with the story and will be less likely to be followed.  But I'm eagerly awaiting the next RSF press release that really makes it big to see what affect the redesign has.  Show me the data!