popsugar.com
The website POPSUGAR aims to entertain and inform its readers by empowering women. The website reaches millions of viewers with data, technology and story-telling, all designed to excite readers.
There are many POPSUGAR labels across the board. These include POPSUGAR, Beauty by POPSUGAR, and PS Must Have. POPSUGAR is a multi-media platform that includes makeup, beauty products, and more. Beauty by POPSUGAR is a cruelty-free makeup company that sources ingredients that boast unique modern packaging. PS Must Have is a curated subscription box that includes items pertaining to fashion, home decor, and beauty.
POPSUGAR was born in 2005, when the website's creators set out to provide hot celebrity news to the internet rather than on the newsstands. POPSUGAR makes entertainment and celebrity news more accessible to the general public in real-time.
Website Design
The website design for POPSUGAR is okay. But the advertising at the top of the page is off-putting. The distracting clothing store and other featured ads take attention away from the exciting news the website offers. However, it's understandable that the ads are visible since this is one of the ways the website generates income.
The template for the website reminds me of a WordPress theme. POPSCAR does a great job of utilizing the strengths of a well-flowing webpage. All of the new headers and featured images are laid out in a pattern that is easy for readers to view.
Apart from the enticing advertisement headers, the actual POPSUGAR website 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 empty space and sets the tone for the rest of the website's fonts and menus.
Menus on this website are easy to understand and manage. The font is small, but it's still legible. There are tabs for the most popular sections of the site and a search bar, as well as a favorites tab. Besides the primary menu, there's also a collapsible menu on the left side. I don't like it as much as the primary menu, but it has some useful information like About, FAQ, Settings, and Advertising.
Finally, the website's footer menus are impressive. They include useful information like hiring information and other POPULAR SPACES brands and websites. The categories are organized neatly.
Content
POPSUGAR has a variety of news categories, each with its own page and drop-down menu.
The celebrity tab summarizes recent entertainment news stories. Writers document stories about popular actors, actresses, musicians, and media figures. Some of these stories are about how certain celebrities have dominated the decade, while others discuss famous people who are expecting babies.
The favorite tab creates a space on the user's profile for saved favorite articles and other media. It also keeps track of user favorite products. This feature is available only to users who sign up for a profile.
The video section of the website is a great place to find a wide variety of topics. Some titles you can find here include Our Three Ingredient Homemade Tak on Wendy's Frosty and Amazon Holiday Finds For Your Family.
The POPSUGAR Shop tab is very helpful. It features gift guides, useful things, and product reviews. The gift guides are very worthwhile, especially 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 if you aren't careful.
Desktop & Mobile Accessibility
Some people find the desktop version of POPSUGAR okay. The website design is very solid, and navigation is relatively easy. There are a few glitches here and there, but most are forgivable since the content is so plentiful.
The application offers a more personal feed and allows you to tinker with settings more than the desktop browser mode does. The app?s menu functions are much better. The primary menu consists of home, explore, favorite's, alerts, and profile. The alerts feature tracks breaking news as it is reported. The search functions smoother on the app, as well.
Positives
POPSUGAR is a great source for entertainment because of its wide variety of content. There are so many different articles that appeal to a diverse audience. The website does a great job of creating content that is enjoyable for multiple readers.
Another good thing about POPSUGAR is the website's design. There are a few minor inconveniences, but overall it works well. One important part of news websites is that they are easy to navigate and look good. POPSUGAR does a great job in this area.
I always find it neat that bigger websites have sections where people can apply to write. There is a link at the bottom of POPSUGAR's website that allows readers to apply to be writers. The process for applying 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. Choose from gifts for her, gifts for him, hot gifts, and editor picks for curated lists.
The app is one of the best aspects of 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 to the desktop version, it is the clear-cut winner.
Negatives
I do not like POPSUGAR because it has a few glitches on their website. Some of these glitches make the site difficult to use and can discourage people from coming back.
The website has an annoying feature where it automatically loads the next posts when you're not on a homepage. This is a problem for readers who want to view the footer with the other links. The solution to this problem is the extra menu I briefly mentioned earlier. This menu contains a lot of redundant information, like the main menu tabs, then includes the same links as the bottom of the website. The design choice is confusing.
I think the search bar function on the website might be a bit problematic. I'm not sure if there's a glitch in the system, but instead of being able to search through the website archives, it kicks you off of the page and pulls up Google. There's no way on desktop to search through articles from POPSUGAR other than Google.
Improvements Needed
The search bar on POPSUGAR's desktop browser needs to be fixed as soon as possible so that readers don't get frustrated. Fortunately, the app doesn't have this problem.
Another thing the website could work on is improving the organization of articles. The menu organization system is flawless, but once you click on tabs, subcategories would greatly help readers. Depending on the chosen tab, the results often look mismatched and unrelated.
Summary
PopSugar is a website that caters to pop culture lovers of all interests. They have video content, fashion guides, and loads of articles. The website is easy to navigate on both desktop and mobile devices, with some hiccups on the desktop browser. However, their mobile app is much more user-friendly and has more interesting features. I highly recommend readers use the app when accessing PopSugar content.
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