Website Review: femail.co.uk
Despite its success in attracting women to mid-market newsprint with the Daily Mail, Associated Newspapers’ Associated New Media (ANM) failed to transfer the formula online the first time around with CharlotteStreet.com. Tomorrow will see the start of the second assault, with the launch of femail.co.uk, which aims to keep the aspects of CharlotteStreet which worked – namely the chat rooms and message boards – while beefing up the editorial and making-over the format.
The look and feel of the new site has certainly changed. Gone is the oppressive navy blue and clunky handling of its predecessor, in comes a clean white and pastel uniform, with dinky icons and easy navigation. In this way, the site resembles recent US import ivillage.co.uk. Snippets and headlines litter the site, cleverly tempting the idle surfer to wander around the site where they are gently assaulted with the range of banners, pop-ups and sponsorships that will rake in initial revenue before e-commerce kicks in.
An editorial team of 15 has been brought in to create original content, which is supplemented by input from other Associated New Media sites such as This Is Money and information sites such as Net Doctor and UKPhonebook. In another similar vein to iVillage, there is also a panel of resident experts- including two called Zelda and the former astrologer to Princess Diana.
Content runs to the usual fashion/beauty/celebrity/family/travel/work suspects, but clever layering of information greatly enhances the site’s appeal. Rather than falling into the trap of presenting a print-length article in one unappetising chunk or several annoyingly chopped-up and slow-to-load fragments, main articles link to different options for further information…an item on which Y2K trends are out for this year gives you the option of seeing more trends to sling out or another for ones you could keep. Illustrative photos can be clicked on to enlarge, while a right screen menu shows other articles available within the section and a left screen a selection of offerings in other sections, making it hard to get lost.
As well as the more in-depth information, there are plenty of distractions to keep regular web-users amused, including free web-based email, quizzes, an email gossip service and even a bizarre random baby name generator (should I ever choose to start a family the girl should be called Canada and the boy Septimus, apparently. I don’t suppose they would have any friends, and neither would I). The chat-room and message board area is the only part of the site to retain the Charlotte Street colour scheme and branding, although this has been given a face-lift.
Femail.co.uk does not offer very much that can’t be found on existing sites such as handbag, BeMe or iVillage. However, what it does, it does well, and it may well appeal to a higher age-group than the others – its target is 30-40 year olds. A little sameness between these sites may not be a bad thing in this case, as nervous net-virgins may feel more confident seeing several similar and therefore familiar formats aimed at them. If femail bucks the trend of many dotcoms and manages to market its launch as clearly as it has designed its site navigation, it could be second time lucky for ANM.
Reviewer: Anna Wise