The Instyle website can be seen as the online version of the glamour and fashion magazine
In Style. As a website dedicated to the celebrity styles, the latest hair and fashion trends, InStyle should
reflect an image of professionalism, but at the same time bring a feeling of excitement and a feminine touch
to the online world of beauty and glamour. The website analysis of the InStyle website shows the site succeeds
in addressing the above through its use of colors, images, videos, lay-out, and content.
From the word go, users have access to the latest fashion trends on the celebrity scene and
with the help of experts are able to find for instance, their most popular Hollywood star’s outfits. In
celebrity world, trends move fast and if you want to stay in it is important to know what is seen as yesterday’s
fashions and what is hot for this season. The tips and guidance with loads of multimedia and stunning pictures
at the InStyle website ensure that the fashion lover isn’t left in the dark. Guidance with the mixing and matching
with the latest celebrity clothing as well as recommendations by the In Style team as the hottest items for the
current week ensure that beauty and fashion become characteristics of its readers. Users will enjoy the scope on
what will be on for the next season and start building their wardrobe before it is too late. Interactivity is
obtained in the trends section through quick polls about the latest beauty trends.
Users need an overview of what is in the magazine for the week and will not be disappointed
with the comprehensive topical lists. The InStyle website needs to cater to the need for gossip and involvement
by its users. As such it offers free newsletter subscription options ensuring that this part of Internet marketing
is also covered. Regular competitions with much sought after prizes are offered weekly which ensure return visits
and that the users stay excited.
When it comes to keeping users up to date on the celebrity entertainment scene, the InStyle website
does a superb job through its calendar of coming celebrity parties and goes even further by offering hot spots for
parties. Users also get more than the inside scoop, they get the chance to be in the spotlight by building their own
online party albums. Social networking is enhanced by also making it possible to not only upload their party photos,
but also share it with friends at the InStyle website.
Some multimedia action is provided through videos about celebrities, behind the scene photo shoots
and beauty tips shared by some of the hottest stars. With the solid focus on celebrities, the InStyle website gives
users the opportunity to vote for the celebrity look of the day. Interactivity is key to the website’s Internet marketing
success. By combining tips and exciting articles as well as tit-bits about for instance, celebrity transformations over
the past few years, with user involvement such polls, voting, and blogs, the website succeeds in building a loyal follower
base. Stunning photo galleries, slide shows, and fashion tips make for a celebrity and fashion website which caters to
the needs of its audience.
Navigation through the InStyle website is fun and by portraying a typical glamour magazine look online,
the InStyle website offers users browsing according to category, the site map and quick searches. The lay-out of the home
page reminds of the typical magazine contents pages and quick overviews. With a large red banner on top, the logo displayed
prominently as well, online branding as part of a website design is promoted. The logo doubles up as home link, but with
long pages it is important that a home link is also displayed at the bottom. Fortunately this is done in the InStyle website
design.
The shopping facility is easy to use and with loads of help on site usage, subscriptions, and possible
questions, the InStyle website ensures that the users are never lost within its many pages. Users will also love the RSS
feeds and ability to share hot finds with their friends.
When it comes to the standard features that should be present in a good website design, the InStyle
website includes the copyright, terms & conditions, privacy, help and about us statements and pages. Several contact
options exist. Text is in readable size and help is provided with downloading and playing of videos. No dead links are
present and pages load fast. The audience is visual and as such many images and videos are available. Flash and JavaScript
are used. It is not a website for those without plugins or Java disabled browsers.
The search engine optimisation (SEO) is important to ensure thorough indexing by search engines,
and the InStyle website design as such includes the Metatag with a quality description and targeted keywords. Headings
and sub-headings are used. There is enough wording for indexing and with Google Universal Search just as hot as the latest
trends in Hollywood; the website has no problem with indexing of its images and videos. Alt tags are present with the
images. The website analysis shows that the InStyle website is also star quality when it comes to ranking and popularity
at the search engines. It boasts a 5 Google Page Rank and although it is not yet at the top spot, by getting more back
links it will soon be.