usmagazine.com
Every pop culture junkie knows about US Weekly Magazine. It was one of the original celebrity news magazines and paved the way for other media sources like it. The magazine itself amassed a large following and the website, which was published in 2006, made it accessible to even more readers. Millions of viewers access the website regularly to read the latest scoop.
The website continues to reel in millions of readers, who enjoy the celebrity gossip, fashion news, videos and other content. The site's functionality is another draw for viewers, who appreciate the convenience of being able to access all the content they want on one site.
Website Design
Everything is easy to find and the navigation is simple.
The website design of US Weekly is professional. The logo is the same as the one they use in their magazine, which is distinct and instantly recognizable. The layout of the website heavily mimics the setup of the magazine, with everything easy to find and the navigation straightforward.
The website is very well branded and easy to see that it is the US website. It has a clean white background and bright pink highlights which makes it easy to spot.
Another great design feature of this website is its organization and setup. The menus are clear and the sidebar is used 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, which keeps readers engaged. The flow of the website is good, with aesthetically pleasing visuals and intriguing headlines that reinforce reader engagement.
Content
There is something for everyone on US Weekly.
The website US Weekly features a variety of content, from celebrity news to fashion, entertainment, royals, moms, food, and more. With so much to choose from, there's something for everyone on US Weekly.
Celebs and their latest escapades are the focus of the news section of the website. Some titles of articles on the page are "Leondardo Dicaprio Saves Man from Drowning" and "Harry Styles Watched a Dog While Its Owner Ran Into a Restaurant." This section also includes a photo gallery of Hollywood's Ugliest Divorces.
On the website's Moms category, there are baby bump photo galleries of award shows. Aside from happy baby updates and sneak peeks at nursery rooms, the website has a hall of fame list and a photo of baby bumps.
United States Food is a website that focuses on celebrities and their kitchens. Recipes are a lot of fun to read, as there are many different food articles posted on the website. The variety of food posts is really great, with some celeb diet lists mixed in with posts about celebrities who love fast food.
Desktop & Mobile Accessibility
The desktop browser version of US Weekly is really great. The branding is spot on. The website layout is clean and easy to follow. The flow of the article placement blends together well, so the reader keeps scrolling.
The mobile browser version of the website is a little harder to navigate than the desktop. The scrolling is difficult because of the ads. The text is significantly smaller and harder to read. Another issue is the advertisements. On the desktop version, the scale of the ad is not very large compared to the rest of the website. On the mobile browser, the ad is a lot larger and hard to get around to read the website's material.
The app version of US Weekly is not exactly optimized 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, when the app version requires viewers to pay extra.
Positives
The great thing about the US Weekly website is that it's free. Not only do they still sell magazines in stores, but the website gets more viewers. It's a great source for entertainment news and makes for some hilarious reading.
The branding of the website is consistent, which is nice because it is easy to recognize a website from its logo and signature colors. US Weekly does a great job of conveying these things without looking messy.
I really enjoy the layout and organization of the website. It flows nicely and keeps me engaged. The format encourages me to keep scrolling. There are a lot of interesting backlinks in the articles themselves, too. They're all placed properly and equally so, which I appreciate.
There are a few advertisements on the webpage. Most of them pertain to the magazine and website, so they're more bearable. On the desktop version, there's a medium-sized ad directly above the header. It's easy to dismiss the ad and continue reading.
Negatives
I have a small complaint about the website's home page feed. The website is a WordPress website, and this is a common theme among them. However, at some point, readers want to see the bottom of the page. it is 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 like the menu, but I would like to see subcategories that would include movie stars, television stars, musicians, etc. It would be great to have a positive or negative filter that could show us good deeds or bad choices that celebrities have made.
Although the advertisements are sparse, they can still be an annoyance. One of the worst issues I have with the website is the advertisements suddenly popping up and blaring sound from a video. It's startling and interrupts reading experiences.
I don't like the mobile viewing on the US Weekly website. It's outdated, and I think it would be better if they updated their app or optimized their mobile browser for modern viewers. This is a name that should be leading the charge in this area, and I'm not happy with how they're doing.
The mobile browser didn't function properly because of the ads. Whenever I tried to scroll down the website, the ads popped up and took me to those websites instead. There is not a good app that functions in the same way the website does. The only apps are for selling their magazines. It would be nice if US designed an app that worked similarly to its website and provided a sense of community.
Improvements Needed
There are a few things that US Weekly Magazine could do to make it more user-friendly and appealing to viewers? needs. One of the most important things that could be done is developing a good app. A solid app would drive even more traffic to their brand.
I'm grateful that the US doesn't use a lot of ads on their website, but they're still problematic. The mobile browser is close to non-functioning because of the pop-ups. If app designing isn't something that's in the cards for the company, updating the mobile browser would be a great improvement.
Finally, here's a suggestion that I think would be very helpful for readers of the US Weekly Magazine website: implementing subcategories. It would make it easier for them to find the information they're looking for, and it could lead to increased readership. It would take a lot of work to make this change, but it's worth doing if it results in more people clicking through to the site.
The magazine's content is varied and unique. Some of the titles are off the wall but catch people's attention nonetheless. The categories from the main menu are good, but sub-categories would be even better. Entertainment news wise, it falls somewhere in the middle.
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