Business Website Research

 Words For Music (WFM)

Positives –

The homepage is set out neatly and clearly with each page separated and tidy, meaning that navigation is very easy. Moreover, the design itself is relatively simplistic and plain, which promotes professionalism. Along with this page, contact has its own page, so that means of contacting the company/staff are clearly shown. More importantly, the site offers a ‘night mode’, which is unique for a page of this manner; this allows for all-day viewing and could also widen the audience’s engagement with the site.

Lastly, the widget layout is simple and clear while also offering more depth to the page, which is positive as it presents that the company are not afraid to offer their audience more, with reader submissions and even submissions from artists who would like their work to be reviewed.

Negatives –

Compared to other music blogs, the design of Words For Music’s webpage does not stand out, as it seems that the simplistic, plain design is popular among music blog pages. As well as this, the overall services they offer on their page is also limited, as they state in their contact page that there are some genres they will not cover, which narrows their overall audience and audience engagement with the site.

Therefore, they could improve by switching up the design of their website to offer something different to make them stand out. Furthermore, they could also hire other staff that feel more comfortable and knowledgeable about the genres they have stated they will not cover, as this would improve engagement with their site.

Pitchfork

Positives –

Similarly to the previous page, this site also offers easy navigation through the minimal and simplistic layout to improve accessibility. More interestingly, they also have a page dedicated to their podcast, which demonstrates an eagerness to engage with their audience as podcasting has become extremely popular among the population in the last few years. Their eagerness to engage with their audience is supported by the fact that they also clearly link their social medias, which are found on the homepage.

Lastly, adverts shown are subtle and not blatantly ‘in your face’, and so they are not at all distracting from the content they offer.

Negatives –

Much like the last website, the design is too bland and does not stand out from competition, which makes the company less attractive when compared to others. The widgets on the page are also boring and outdated, and so the site itself is not distinguishable to an audience interested in music – their design should demonstrate their interest in music and eagerness to write about it, which this does not.

Moreover, I cannot find any contact information on the page, which infers that it is either hidden away somewhere or simply not offered. This majorly narrows audience engagement as not everyone has social media, which is the only form of contact offered.

BlackPlastic

Positives –

Compared to the majority of other music blogs I have browsed, BlackPlastic offers a unique style. The layout is very different, consisting of a scroll-like navigation feature, similar to what you would find on social media platforms. This demonstrates an interest in engagement with a younger audience. As well as this, contact information is easily found on their homepage.

As well as this, they also offer on-site listening through SoundCloud, which I have not found on the other websites mentioned. This improves engagement as the audience does not have to open another app to listen to the music, and so all they need is already on the page itself.

Negatives –

The ads are annoying and ruin the aesthetic of the page. Moreover, the scrolling feature may not be favourable for some as it lacks easy accessibility unlike the others. Design-wise, the colour scheme is bland and boring, while the font is nothing new.

Comparison

Overall, all of the websites listed above seem to favour the simplistic, bland design with either a black and white theme or pastel and white. They are non-distinguishable when compared to a handful of other music blogs which decided to use a different colour scheme. However, navigation for the most part is a good feature on Pitchfork and Words for Music, which allows for engagement with their audience.

However, they could all improve by changing up their style, offering on-site listening and allowing for easy contact by their audience, which is something I found was hard to come by on a few pages I browsed.