Web Analysis week 6 (Part 2 layout and structure )

LAYOUT AND STRUCTURE

The homepage consists of a header at the top of the page which is kind of like the contents page that appears at the beginning of the magazine. It tells the viewer what sections are available on the website and gives you the opportunity to look at different topics as and when you want to unlike reading a magazine which you would tend to read from the front to the back. It is very clear when viewing this page that it is a woman’s online magazine as the topics that are covered are Sex and relationships, Fashion, Beauty, Life Coach, Cosmo Body, In the know/Celebrity gossip, Chat/Blogs, Confessions, Galleries, Centrefold. All these topics are woman related topics and as soon as you log on this becomes clear as the colours used for the website are very feminine colours like Pinks, purples, turquoises. You wouldn’t really find a male logging onto this website as the sex tips, quizzes and fashions are all directed at the female sex. This gives a kind of digital divide as the topics are for woman only and those who are interested in these kind of ‘girly‘ aspects of life. This shows a very stereotypical role of woman and what they are interested in as it presumes that all woman are into making themselves look good and hearing the latest celebrity gossip when many maybe aren’t so interested in this kind of thing.
You could also say there was a digital divide with the age range as the magazine relates to topics like sex and relationships you wouldn’t really say it was for younger teenage girls more like the older teenage girl and young adults like 16/17 +
The homepage is very busy and loaded with examples of hypertexts, user generated content and forms of new media which I will be discussing later on .I would say it was easy to use as you can easily access other areas on the site from this page and it isn’t confusing to look at as you don’t have to scroll down far to reach the end of the page so it doesn’t come across so confusing.
The layout on the homepage is always kept the same the content just changes each month which I think is a good aspect as it is easily recognisable and regular viewers will always know where everything is and can visit the sections they want to look at instantly without having to take time to find them. I sometimes when i visit websites i get confused finding what I’m looking for if they are forever changing there layout and structure.

There are many slide shows containing snippets of what is available for example quizzes you can take and products that you can win. The website uses words and sentence like ‘Today’s highlights’ and ‘Out Now’ with images and the start of the sentence underneath them for example ‘see who wore what at the ......’ this makes people want to click on them and look at each section of the website because they are intrigued into what comes next or what the story or the tips are.
There is also many adverts down the side of the page advertising woman’s makeup and perfume like ‘Kylie Minogue Showtime Perfume‘. These slide shows and flashing/moving adverts are used as they draw attention to your eye as soon as you log onto the homepage as they aren’t something you would really look at first they are trying to persuade you to buy the product. There are different boxes spread around the homepage which create more functions for people to look at keeping them entertained for longer.