Five Website Design Tips from RD.com

Be a more confident, successful publisher in just five minutes each week!

Breakthrough Internet Strategies for Authors and Publishers
Proven Internet Marketing Sources, Programs and Tactics
Tips and Techniques for Designing More Effective Websites

And get Don Nicholas' valuable, free Special Report: Seven Online Publishing Secrets absolutely free.

Five Website Design Tips from RD.com

Posted in Website Design Tips	May 22, 2006

Permalink: http://daily.mequoda.com/i//website_design_tips/five_website_design_tips_readers_digest_168-1.html

By Kim Mateus, Managing Editor Mequoda Daily and Library

Reader's Digest is so well known and widely read that almost everybody has picked up a copy at some point in their lives. Founded in 1922, the family friendly, feel-good favorite is also the flagship of a billion dollar public company. The Reader's Digest is the largest-selling magazine in the world, and the company uses their circulation power to sell a plethora of books, magazines, games and children's titles, and recently music video and audio books.

RD.com draws in over 600,000 monthly unique users. In a website design review of RD.com Terri Edmonston looks at how the site expands the value of the print brand by bringing their trademark interactivity and community strengths onto the small screen.

Here are some website design tips Terri pulled from the review:

It isn't obvious to a casual user that subscribing is a priority action. RD.com doesn't ignore this goal, but the design places subscription offers in the background and is unnecessarily subtle compared to the rest of the site.
They've done a great job in content webification. The homepage has a TV-screen like display, they've got "RD Out Loud," which is a podcast service, they have a ton of interactive tools and lots of games.
Throughout the site, when reading articles, the user is often prodded to submit a joke or comment—to participate. The site has the same community feel that the magazine has made famous.
With a slightly older age range of readers, RD.com is ahead of the curve with their super-usable "click to enlarge or reduce font sizes" A+ A- [[icons]].
RD.com integrates well with Reader's Digest on paper, each one references the other. The user will "get" that these are two ways of naming the same brand.

Mequoda Library Members Only: If you're a Mequoda Library member, reference Terr's entire chapter, RD.com Website Design Review. Or check the full Table of Contents for Website Design for Publishers and Authors.

If you're not a Mequoda Library member, and are interested in accessing the full text of this chapter along with 425 other chapters, start your 14-day FREE trial.

Recent Mequoda Daily Website Design Tips

Capturing Visitors' Email Addresses is Key to Building Effective Relationships, posted in Website Design Tips | May 19, 2006

Maintaining Interest by Webifying Website Content, posted in Website Design Tips | May 11, 2006

Five Website Design Tips from WoodcraftMagazine.com, posted in Website Design Tips | May 8, 2006

Improving the User Experience with Clear Strategic Intent, posted in Website Design Tips | May 4, 2006

Five Website Design Tips from WineEnthusiast.com, posted in Website Design Tips | May 1, 2006

Read more...