MarketingWeb has received a makeover. MarketingWeb is a great online resource for keeping up-to-date with what is happening with regards to marketing, public relations, trends and branding to mention but a few, in South Africa. They have recently done away with their old design and replaced it with a fresh new one. I am going to take you through a few of the changes I noticed and like.
New Additions:
- RSS Feeds
- Forum
They have added a forum, obviously to encourage discussion an create a community. Their forum is empty as of now, but I am sure in time it will start to pick up and will be host to some interesting debates and discussions. [MarketingWeb Forum]
Finally I can subscribe to MarketingWeb and have their latest content delivered to Google Reader. Saving me time and effort. If they had an RSS feed before, I couldn’t find it then, but I am glad they have made it more prominent now. [MarketingWeb RSS]
Changes:
- Drop Down Menu
The top of every page now has a drop down menu which makes for easier navigation of the site. - Events & Jobs
The events and jobs sections have both been given more attention. Users can add events, jobs or even a wanted job ad. - Home Page
The home page is much more appealing than the last one. The top stories are more prominent while the latest shorts, jobs and events are displayed in pretty looking boxes on the right. As you scroll down other stories are summarized under their relevant categories which makes it easier to find relevant articles.
Things I Don’t Like:
- Page Sizes
The home page weighs in at a hefty 270 kb. The majority of the size coming from the image and javascript files. Their fancy new menu is powered by a javascript file which is around 29kb. While this is fine and dandy for ADSL users because they have the speed to process large pages quickly it is the 56k users who will suffer.
Overall I like the new layout, it’s fresh and clean considering the amount of advertising. Hats off to their design team.
Screenshots of the new MarketingWeb:
