Website Evaluation

(Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP) (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)

The site I decided to evaluate for this assignment is taylorswift.com. As an avid fan, I have been on this site many times, so I decided to look at it with a more critical view. Taylor Swift is one of the most famous people on the planet right now, which means she has an excellent team behind her. This includes those who are in charge of her socials and her official site. I was unable to attach photos due to the file size of screenshots being too large for WordPress, however, I provided a link below.

https://www.taylorswift.com/

Overview

This site is listed underneath the domain of “.com”. The purpose of this site is to sell merch, and tickets. It also offers fans more access to Swift’s content through social media links and a newsletter. In short, the site is meant to be an extension of Swift for her fans.

The site has undergone many shifts as Swift has released several albums over the past few years. The home page is static with the current “era” she is in. Her next re-recording, “1989” is coming out on October 27th, which is currently what is being promoted on her page. The user is met with a large image of the “1989” album cover upon arriving at the site, and once they scroll they can see the “1989” deluxe CD/Vinyl that is currently for sale. Below that there are a few other things, including tickets for sale for The Eras Tour film coming this October.

As the user continues to explore, they are met with an informative navigation toward the top of the site. There is a detailed social media selection for users to pick from in the top right corner, along with more navigation on the left. The navigation includes 4 sections,

Analysis

Overall, the user experience (UX) is great. The site has both information and links that the fans need, and most importantly it was easy to navigate. An element that made the site especially easy to navigate was the link at the top of the page which gave users the chance to return to the homepage at any point while they were on the site.

Something I noticed was unlike most sites, Swift’s site does not include any advertisements, outside of herself. There are no third-party ads listed. This made navigating the site easy, as accidentally clicking on ads can be frustrating for a user, along with blocking necessary information.

All of the site’s links were properly linked and were active. Since the site garners significant traction every day from fans it makes sense that it would be updated. Along with that, all of the content is relevant to fans and there is no outdated information listed. Since Swift is often releasing new albums the site is subject to change, but it has been this way since she announced her next album last month. So, the site is being updated frequently.

Fans visit this site often to see what merch is out, and Swift often leaves easter-eggs or hints for her fans to discover on here. She often switches out certain images or albums to send different messages. So, the experience of each user is a high priority for those running her site, and Swift herself. I found the site to be incredibly easy to navigate, and aesthetically pleasing. She essentially rebrands herself every new “era” that she goes through, which means her socials get that rebrand as well. It will be interesting to s

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