New London — The Day will launch a redesigned website Oct. 8 that is easier to navigate and more responsive to the variety of digital devices being used by readers.

The newspaper’s redesigned website, www.theday.com, will feature larger photos and less clutter; it also will do a better job of highlighting video content, executives said Friday.

“We wanted to create a website that gives you a good experience no matter what format or system you’re coming in on,” said Gary Farrugia, The Day’s publisher. “It’s elegant. It’s intuitive. It’s very user friendly.”

Farrugia said the new website dovetails with an evolving digital-first philosophy that emphasizes getting the basic news online as soon as possible, with updates available throughout the day to add greater context. The Day will always publish stories first on the web, later in the newspaper, he said, rather than holding articles for publication in print.

Timothy Dwyer, The Day’s executive editor, said the website redesign had one overriding mission: to make it easier for readers on mobile devices to access content. Readers accessing www.theday.com through mobile devices, once a small fraction of the market, are quickly becoming a major player, he said.

In the last website redesign, Dwyer said, the focus had been on the site’s home page, but today so many people come in through social media and search engines to read just one particular item that the attention this time around centered on individual story pages. The idea, he said, was to develop pages that enticed readers to continue on to other stories on the website by referring to related content or top stories.

“We tried to think of a number of ways to make things sticky,” he said.

Dwyer said the entire redesign was accomplished in-house.

Farrugia said the redesign, which started in February, was the culmination of a process that included the news, advertising, technical and marketing departments, with everyone involved every step of the way.

“It was a remarkable exercise in collaboration,” he said.

Advertisers, he said, will appreciate the redesigned website’s improved ad positions as well as more and better-highlighted ad features.

“There’s a new play with sponsored content that allows advertisers to write their own narratives,” Farrugia said.

As part of the redesign, all town content in The Day’s coverage area will be included on www.theday.com. The company’s weekly newspapers west of the Connecticut River, under the Shore Publishing umbrella, will retain the zip06 branding.

The Day’s redesigned website and new emphasis on digital-first content doesn’t mean the publishing company will be neglecting the newspaper side of the business or its journalistic mission, Farrugia said.

“We’ve got a great news organization here,” he said. “We’re not abandoning print. Print continues to be our strongest format. The market is still very much in love with our print product.”

l.howard@theday.com

Twitter: @KingstonLeeHow