usmagazine.com
One of the original celebrity news magazines, US Weekly Magazine, paved the way for many other media sources like it. The website published in 2006 made it accessible to even more readers. Millions of viewers access the site regularly to read the newest scoop.
The website manages to keep reeling in millions of readers with its celebrity gossip, fashion news, videos, and other content. The functionality of the site is another reason why it has been so successful.
Website Design
It is easy to navigate and the pages load quickly.
The website design of US Weekly is very professional. The logo is the same as the one they use in their magazine. It is distinct and instantly recognizable. The layout of the website heavily mimics the setup of the magazine, with easy navigation and pages that load quickly.
The website's branding is terrific, apparent from the moment viewers view it. Additionally, it is difficult to create a well-branded and clean website at the same time. The white background is perfect for the brightly coloured pink highlights.
Overall, this website is well-made and effectively communicates its message.
Another great design feature of this website is the organization and setup. The menus are clear and the sidebar is utilized nicely. The menu floats above everything as you scroll which eliminates the need to scroll upwards. The sidebar highlights the latest news the website posted, making it easy to see what's new. The flow of the website is good, with a attractive aesthetic that pleases the eye. Headlines are intriguing and reinforce reader engagement, while also being helpful in communicating the message of the website. Overall, this website is well-made and effectively communicates its message to its readers.
Content
The content on US Weekly is diverse. The website's main focus is celebrity news, but there are other topics, like fashion, entertainment, royals, moms, food, pets, podcasts, videos and more.
The website's news section focuses on celebrities and their latest escapades. Some headlines are "Leondardo Dicaprio Saves Man from Drowning" and "Harry Styles Watched a Dog While Its Owner Ran Into a Restaurant." Included in the gallery is a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio helping someone out and Harry Styles looking sullen beside his pet dog.
Another section of the website is the Moms category. This portion focuses on pregnant celebrities and mothers. There are baby bump photo galleries of the Golden Globes and other award shows. Aside from baby updates and sneak peeks at nursery rooms, there is a hall of fame list and photo of baby bumps.
US Food is a website that hosts articles pertaining to celebrities cooking, their kitchens, and favorite foods. Recipes are a fun read. The diversity of food articles is plentiful. There are as many celebs who love fast food posts as there are celebs who have diet lists.
Desktop & Mobile Accessibility
The desktop browser version of US Weekly is a very good website. The branding is great, the website layout is clean and consistent, and the flow of the article placements melds together well, encouraging the reader to keep scrolling.
On the desktop version of the website, the ads are easy to read and small in scale. The scrolling is also easy because the ads do not take up too much space. One issue with the desktop version is that there are not as many advertisements as there are on the mobile browser. The text on the desktop version is also larger and easier to read.
The app version of US Weekly is not optimally designed for mobile viewing. The website is free to read, but the app requires viewers to pay $5.99 per issue. It's confusing that they would offer similar and possibly the same content on a webpage for free.
Positives
The US Weekly website is amazing because the content is available for free. The company still sells magazines in store, but the website undoubtedly gets more viewers. It is a great source for entertainment news.
The website's branding is consistent and it is nice to be able to recognize a website from its logo and signature colors. US Weekly does a great job of conveying these things without looking messy.
The website's organization is great and flows perfectly to keep the reader engaged. The format encourages viewers to keep scrolling. There are a lot of backlinks in the articles themselves, making them interesting.
There are only a few advertisements on the webpage. Most of them pertain to the magazine and website, so they are more bearable. There is one medium-sized ad directly above the header on the desktop version. It is easy to dismiss the ad and continue reading.
Negatives
I have a very small complaint about the US Weekly website's home page feed. The website is a WordPress website, so this is a common theme among them. However, at some point, readers want to see the bottom of the page. It can be difficult to get to things like Contact Us and FAQs with the endless scrolling. This problem only occurs on the main home page. With the category pages, it is easier to get to the bottom.
I think it would be a great idea to have subcategories on the menu for different types of celebrities. For example, we could have movie stars, tv stars, musicians, and so on. It would be really helpful to be able to filter them by what kind of news they've made (positive or negative), as well as by their profession.
There are few advertisements on the website, but they can be an annoyance. One of the worst issues I have with the website is that ads suddenly pop up and make a loud noise from a video. It is startling and interrupts reading experiences.
I have a big problem with the US Weekly website's mobile viewing. In today's world, an app or even an optimized mobile browser is essential for all websites. For such a well-known name in the entertainment industry, I was very disappointed with this aspect of US.
The mobile browser did not work properly because of the advertisements. As I tried to scroll down the website, the ads popped up and I was instead directed to those websites. There is not a very good one in place that functions in the same way the website does. The only apps are for selling their magazines. It would be nice to see US design an app that works similarly to its website and provides a sense of community.
Improvements Needed
Additionally, US Weekly could use social media to engage with their audience more, doubling as a way to get more RSVPs for their events.
There are a few things that US Weekly Magazine could do to better serve its viewers and appeal to them as a brand. One important improvement would be developing a good app that would bring even more traffic to the magazine. Additionally, US Weekly could use social media to stay in touch with its audience and get more RSVPs for upcoming events.
I am grateful that the United States does not use a lot of advertisements on their website, but they are still problematic. The mobile browser is close to non-functioning because of the pop-ups. If app designing isn't in the cards for the company, updating the mobile browser would be a great improvement.
The website is also not as user-friendly as it could be.
Finally, there is a small suggestion I have that would make reading the material on the US Weekly Magazine website easier. It would create subcategories, letting readers filter through the information more easily. This would be a big positive if implemented.
The content of US Weekly Magazine is varied and unique. Some of the titles are off the wall, but they are eye-catching nonetheless. The categories from the main menu are good, but sub-categories would be even better. Overall, US Weekly Magazine is a run of the mill celeb gossip site. As far as entertainment news is concerned, it falls somewhere in the middle.
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