The dymanic of a successful magazine website is an informative supplemental resource for employees, potential advertisers and customers. A magazine website is unique because it is both an independent entity, but also utterly dependent upon the magazine it represents. It should sell the user into buying a magazine subscription or advertising contract, or give its employees a concrete sense of their magazine's message, while simultaneously giving the user information that s/he might not be able to locate within each issue of the publication. All facets of the magazine publication can receive information at the same time through one distinct medium -- the website.
From a non-webmaster and frequent web surfer point of view, I wanted to compare the websites of five bridal magazines -- 3 national and 2 smaller -- to illustrate how each magazine does or does not represent the necessary functionality of a magazine web page. ... By explaining these websites from a novice perspective, magazines might see how the average user compares their website with others. Hopefully, the critiques will highlight problem areas and exemplify professional solutions.
Home on the Page
The website needs to emphasize the magazine's title at the exact instant the user reaches their website. Four of the magazines plug their logo appropriately in the left-hand corner of the website -- the first place the eye travels. By placing the title in soft colors with a model's face as the focal point, Elegant Bride's website conveys fashion with an instant appeal to the magazine. Immediately, the user knows she is at a magazine's website. The other three magazines, with their logo in the left-hand corner, have no balancing attraction. Therefore, the eye simply trails off the screen, uninterested.