End of semester wrap-up

After analyzing Real Simple this semester, I have noticed that the web component of the magazine tries to differentiate itself from the print publication. Much of the content on the website is unique and offers a truly interactive experience.

The navigation and art on the entire site fits with the experience of the Real Simple brand. The website isn't too crazy or filled with a bunch of advertising. This makes the user's browsing experience that much better. This type of feeling is carried out through the social media pages. Each platform feels connected. Real Simple also takes advantage of everything the web offers. They utilize video, audio and database searches.

Areas that could use more attention on the site are the sub pages. Some of the content on those pages can become stale. They often use the same art for months at a time and most of the stories don't have dates. This makes new users feel like the content is still fresh, but after revisiting the site for months at a time it became old and felt dated. Maybe expanding the online staff could help solve some of these problems. The man power to constantly keep a website maintained is huge, and requires the help of multiple people.

Some of the best stuff on realsimple.com was on the blog. This never got old and was constantly being updated. I was happy that this was something I could look forward to reading each day of the week. The amount of work that goes into making sure a blog is updated is extreme and I appreciate the effort it takes to keep the blog fresh.


Overall, the site does a great job of keeping readers interested and in-the-know. It will be interesting to see if any of the improvements I noticed will be addressed in the future. 

Posts from our partners

On the home page of the Real Simple site, there is a section devoted to posts from our partners. It's called "New on the Web."

I think it's interesting that the magazine chooses to display other content from outside the publication so prominently on their website. I know other publications do this, but usually this type of feed is at the bottom of the site and it generally only gives the domain name. I haven't seen very many that display an RSS feed like this. At the bottom of Lemondrop.com they have a blogroll that is essentially the same thing as Real Simple's "New on the Web" section, however, like I said above, it's at the bottom of the site.

A-Z Ingredient Guide

O ingredients 

The A-Z Ingredient Guide is one piece of online exclusive content that seems very valuable to the website. It tells the reader some information about commonly used ingredients and gives recipes that suit these items. Not only are their recipes, but some of the ingredients also have video that accompanies the stories. The videos can range from the proper way to cut an onion to how to zest citrus. There are even quick tips on the best way to store to buy the food.

The best part of this database is that has so many different pieces of information. The content is useful and it's all located in one place. It could take hours to find something like this in such an organized fashion, but Real Simple puts everything together in such a way that is easy to find information quickly and efficiently.

They even have a newsletter that will show you how to find fresh ingredients in your area. They are really trying to put together a site that can work for everyone, no matter where the reader is located.

New Uses for Old Things

I love this part of the website. Real Simple gives readers some ideas for new, practical uses for old things that most people don't know what to do with. This content is always fresh and useful. What I like best about how this is displayed online is that I can see new content everyday and I can also search archived material.

Easter egg new uses

The best part of today's new uses is that it is seasonal and timely. The site always does a good job of incorporating information that is relevant to their existing departments and recurring sections.

Updating the website

 

Inside the Magazine photo

There are some parts of Real Simple's website that seem to never get updated. For example, under the Inside the Magazine tab there is a photograph of a women writing notes. This picture has been the same since I started looking at Real Simple's website back in January. The content changes each month, but nothing ever happens with the art. Frankly, it's boring to come back to a website every week and see the same photo living in the same place for months. The magazine does a good job of maintaining their home page, but a suggestion would be to put that same amount of man power into switching out art throughout the entire site. Every section opening should be treated with the same amount of importance as the home page.

 

Featured story in the clothing section

Another area that doesn't seem to be updated as often is the clothing section. The above feature story has been on this page for at least a month, if not more. I'm not sure if I've ever seen it change. Real Simple's website is made up of many layers. It has so many pages and openers that I know it must be hard to keep up with the workload. Especially since they have a lot of online exclusive stories. However, it's important to readers that information gets updated and changed on a regular basis. I hope that I will begin to see more updates to the site in the next month.

Real Simple Asks

There is a section on the homepage called Real Simple Asks. It posts questions that the magazine poses to readers and has readers respond in a comment box. The questions rotate on the site and answers are displayed for people to look at.

This is a great example of user-generated content that is unique to the website. The interesting part about these questions is that they are archived and people can comment on them for as long as they are searchable. When looking through some of the older questions, it is easy to see that a lot of the comment givers are frequent users of the site. They often comment on more than one question. This shows that their really is a niche for this kind of stuff. People like to talk about themselves and tell their stories to the world.

Readers can also click on the comment givers profile and see what their recent activity on Real Simple has been. Most of the people I looked at primarily stick to the questions section. This type of engaging media is something that can help foster a small audience. 

Contests and Sweepstakes

One tactic that we talked about in class in regards to interaction between a companies audience and their website is using contests. Real Simple is giving away different kits and books in reward for participating in the "The Great Easter Egg Hunt Sweepstakes."

From April 11- April 24 readers can go on realsimple.com to find an easter egg somewhere on the site. There is a clue given everyday to where the egg is, and once you find the egg you can click on it and enter to win one of the four prizes.

 

prizes for winning

This type of involvement with the reader is fun and gets people inside the site. I searched for the egg after reading the clue: The egg is taking a break inside a 20-minute workout. 

And look what I found! I clicked on it and it took me to an entry form. This type of game has a time peg because of Easter. It works well and is a game that gets people trolling around the site everyday.