Beginning Monday, Jan. 20, those visiting www.picayuneitem.com will see a new website; a website designed to have a cleaner design and provide a more reader-friendly experience.

Already the leading local news website in the market, the new picayuneitem.com, will work to provide more information to readers and serve as a strong partner with the daily, printed edition of the Picayune Item.

“It really is a step up from our current site, simply because of the way the information is organized, the way the pages are presented and the opportunity it provides us to serve our readers and our advertisers,” Item publisher Linda Gilmore said.

In addition to the improved presentation of the website, the site provides increased advertising and marketing capabilities for local retailers.

“Through the changes to our website, and our plans to increase the use of social media, we fully expect our web traffic to increase tremendously,” Gilmore said.

While the new site offers improved readability, it will not have an e-edition that had been available free of charge.

“The e-edition was a nice feature on the current site, but did not fit into what we had planned for this site,” Gilmore said.

“While we know this may be an inconvenience to those who have grown accustomed to the e-edition, we’re confident they will find the new picayuneitem.com to be well worth their time.

Those with any questions about the upcoming transition can call the Picayune Item’s office at (601) 798-4766.