popsugar.com
POPSUGAR's mission is to inform and entertain women in an optimistic manner with data, technology, and story-telling. The website reaches millions of viewers and strives to combine these elements in order to excite readers.
There are many different POPSUGAR labels across the board. The company has three specific brands - POPSUGAR, Beauty by POPSUGAR, and PS Must Have. POPSUGAR is a multi-media platform that focuses on food and lifestyle content. Beauty by POPSUGAR is a makeup company that sources cruelty-free ingredients that boast unique modern packaging. PS Must Have is a curated subscription box that includes items pertaining to fashion, the home, and beauty, and more.
In 2005, POPSUGAR was created to bring readers hot celebrity news in real-time. The website became popular for its accessible content and quickly became a favorite among the general public.
Website Design
The website design for POPSUGAR is good, but the advertisements at the very top of the page are off-putting. The distracting clothing store and other featured ads take attention away from the exciting news the website offers. However, it is understandable that the ad placements are visible as this is one of the ways POPSUGAR generates income.
The template for the website reminds me of a WordPress theme- it flows well, uses header and featured image patterns that make it easy for readers to see, and POPSUGAR does a great job with it all.
The POPSUGAR header is visually appealing. The stylized text draws users' attention in a positive manner. The bold typography of the website name is a good choice. The bold font fills blank space and sets the tone for the rest of the website's fonts and menus.
This website's menus are clean and simple. The font is smaller than the header text but impactful, all the same. The primary menu offers tabs on popular sections of the site, followed by a search bar and favorites tab. Apart from the primary menu, there is a collapsible menu on the left side. I am not personally a fan of it, but it contains some useful information like about, FAQ, settings, and advertising.
The website's footer menus are impressively well designed. They include useful information like hiring information and other POPSUGAR brands and websites. The categories are organized neatly, making it easy to find what you're looking for.
Content
There is also a search bar on the top of every page.
POPSUGAR provides a variety of news feeds within different categories like Celebrity, Fashion, Fitness, Beauty, Family, Living, Culture and more. The website features menus for each category with sub-menus for even more detailed organization. There is also a search bar located on the top of every page to help you easily find what you are looking for.
The celebrity tab covers entertainment news stories in depth. Writers document interesting bits about popular actors, actresses, musicians, and journalists. Some of the topics covered in this section are: "Which Decade Belonged To Beyonce?" and "Are All The Celebrities Expecting Babies?"
To create a favorites tab, users must first sign up for a profile. Once signed in, the favorites tab will allow users to save favorite articles and other media, as well as track their favorite products.
The video section of the website is another part where you can find a wide variety of topics covered by POPSUGAR. Some titles in this section include "Our Three Ingredient Homemade Tak on Wendy's Frosty" and "Amazon Holiday Finds For Your Family."
The product reviews are also very helpful because they give a good rundown of the product, what it does, and whether or not you should buy it.
The POPSUGAR Shop tab is incredibly helpful. It features gift guides, must-haves, and product reviews. The gift guides are particularly valuable around the holidays. There are multiple articles like ?30 Hottest Bags Our Editors Love For Fall, From Topshop to Prada.? It is easy to fall down the rabbit hole reading these titles. The product reviews are also very helpful as they give a comprehensive overview of the product, what it does, and whether or not you should buy it.
Desktop & Mobile Accessibility
The desktop version of POPSUGAR is okay. The website's design and navigation are solid, but there are a few glitches here and there. The content is plentiful, however, so most are forgivable.
The app offers a more personalized feed and allows you to customize settings more than the desktop browser mode does. The app's menu functions are better. The primary menu consists of home, explore, favorites, alerts, and profile. The alerts feature tracks breaking news as it is reported. The search functions smoothly on the app, as well.
Positives
Popsugar is a great source of entertainment because of the diverse content. There are so many different articles that draw in a diverse audience. The website does a good job of creating content for multiple readers.
One positive aspect of POPSUGAR is website design. There are a few minor inconveniences, but overall the website functions well. The aesthetics of the site are very impressive. An extremely important part of news websites is the ability to easily navigate and find what you're looking for. POPSUGAR delivers on this front with great success.
I enjoy the idea of websites like POPSUGAR having sections for potential contributors. There is a link at the bottom of the website that allows readers to apply to be writers. The application process is fairly simple, and a cool bonus. Gift guides and product reviews are one of my favorite article types, and POPSUGAR has plenty of them. The articles are well-informed and in-depth. I especially enjoy choosing from gifts for her, gifts for him, hottest gifts, and editor picks for curated lists.
The app is one of the best things about POPSUGAR. It is by far the best way to interact with the brand, and it is a much more streamlined and enjoyable experience. In comparison with the desktop version, it is the clear-cut winner.
Negatives
Active Voice: Although POPSUGAR is a nice site, some of its glitches prevent readers from using it, and this causes problems that deter users from returning in the future.
An annoying feature of the website is that, anytime you are not on a homepage, the site autoloads its next posts. For readers who want to view the bottom footer with the rest of the links, this is a problem. The extra menu I briefly mentioned earlier is the solution to this problem, but it is not an apparent one. This menu contains a redundant amount of information, like main menu tabs, then includes the same links as the bottom of the website. The design choice is confusing.
The search bar on the POPSUGAR website is very poor. I'm not sure if there is a glitch in the system, but instead of searching through the website archives, it sends you to Google. There is no way on the desktop to search through the articles from POPSUGAR other than Google.
Improvements Needed
POPSUGAR could use a few changes in its desktop browser search bar. The glitch needs to be fixed as soon as possible before readers get frustrated. Fortunately, the app does not have this issue.
The website could work on improving the organization of articles. The menu system is flawless, but once you click on tabs, subcategories would help readers make more sense of the results. Depending on the chosen tab, the results look mismatched and unrelated.
Summary
POPSUGAR is a website that provides celebrity news, fashion, fitness, beauty, and other information. It has videos, gift guides, and a vast amount of interesting articles. The website design is easy to navigate and it's very easy to get lost in the eye-catching titles. Although the desktop browser has some issues, the mobile application is different and offers more interesting features. I recommend readers use the app to get the best experience.
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