The redesigned Wall Street Journal Web site is proving you can have your cake and eat it too.

Not only does the site, which debuted Sept. 16, deliver more content, it’s offering its distinctive mix of news and information to both subscribers and non-subscribers alike. That’s a radical departure from the old WSJ.com, which restricted the majority of its content behind a paid wall.

“Before the redesign, we were never clear on what was paid and what was free,” said Gordon McLeod, president of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network. “Five years ago the content on the site was for subscribers only. But over the past few years we’ve slowly opened up some content to free users but hadn’t thought of the user experience and the business model.”

In fact, McLeod said, increasing the transparency between free and subscriber-only content has helped The Journal drum up new interest for its premium news, which now counts 1,063,000 subscribers.

“Going into the redesign, we had the question of whether it should be free or paid but the reality of it being free and paid has really played out well for us,” he said.

The Journal (daily, 2,011,999; weekends, 1,927,247) transformed its Web site as part of the new look, adding a horizontal tabbed design and layout, expanded content and new features available for all users.