Five new-look homepages, including the launch of a Middle East edition, will be unveiled on the heels of record web traffic to and a 5% jump in monthly circulation figures for the print version.
The new homepage mirrors the FT's uncluttered print edition, including the trademark pink hue, and will feature fewer ads than previously.
The programme is the newspaper's biggest online investment since the introduction of a subscription-pricing scheme in 2002.
A series of improvements will be rolled out through 2009, the first being the look of the homepage, which now showcases a 'top-ten' must-read list of stories handpicked by an editorial team. The top-ten stories list can also include video and comment features.
New design features include horizontal drop-down menus, new market data and portfolio tools, a most popular stories list and tools for daily email briefings, RSS feeds and keyword alerts.
Rob Grimshaw, managing director of FT.com, said the redesign is indicative of the Financial Times' strategy to keep digital media at the heart of the organisation.
Grimshaw said: "FT.com's ongoing development is key to driving the FT's digital evolution."
With the new FT.com, anonymous users will be able to access four articles a month without charge. After that users are asked to register with the website in order to access 20 free articles per month. After 20, users are asked to subscribe, with prices ranging from £19.99 to £199.99 for premium access.
This pricing model has already generated 800,000 registered users and 100,000 subscribers, which Grimshaw says opens up opportunities for ad targeting.
The website will also look to expand on its search engine optimisation platform, which helps generate 10% of traffic to the site.
FT.com technicians are also working on metadata and automated tagging programs to continue to drive traffic to the new site.
The redesign follows the launch of a new forums feature on the FT's Alphaville blog, which was unveiled two weeks ago.
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