The Business Insider website is ranked fourth in the top 100 list of the most popular blogs by Technorati. The blog provides information on a wide range of topics, including technology, finance, politics, business strategies, lifestyle, entertainment, and other general topics. The Business Insider publishes a wide range of content, which makes it possible for the website to attract a lot of readers. It provides deep analysis on different topics, making it easy for readers to understand the essence of different items published.
The website has been in existence since 2007, and it has a lot of traffic because its content is insightful. The website has good writers who have positive relationships with readers. The website’s readers are interested in different types of content, and this has helped them expand their knowledge in different areas (Technorati, 2013).
This website will be evaluated based on different criteria. The website’s content is a key criterion because it determines if users will find it attractive. Attractive content makes a website more appealing to its visitors and determines if they will return or not. The design of the website will also be evaluated to determine how different sections are arranged, and if this makes it easy for visitors to browse the website.
The focus on the website’s design will also assess how different topics are categorized and how this encourages users to continue exploring the website. The way content, photos, graphics, and text are presented will also be analyzed to find out if they make the website visually attractive to visitors (Hoekman, 2010, p. 67). Lastly, the evaluation will look at how the website relates to its users through interactions, links, and bookmarks.
The Business Insider has rich and diverse content, which attracts more readers to the website. The website provides current financial, technology, entertainment, and political news stories that appeal to readers’ interests. The website has skilled writers who are knowledgeable on a wide variety of topics published there. It has reputable financial analysts who interpret various business and political events incisively to make readers understand how they affect them.
The website publishes insightful stories that keep its readers well informed about different events happening in various places. The content published by the website appeals to the perspectives of different readers, which makes it more relevant (Hoekman, 2010, p. 72). Therefore, readers find it easy to relate to different news and feature items published by the website easily. This has earned the website a lot of credibility from loyal readers who have a keen interest in published items.
The website’s news stories and features are insightful, which has helped it sustain the loyalty of its readers. Visitors to the web page are directed to various items that appeal to their interests, which are listed under different topics (Huang, 2008, p. 87). Readers interested in reading the latest news are able to get these stories on the website’s homepage. This makes it easy for them to access the latest published content quickly.
The website also has a separate section that advises small business owners on effective strategies they can use to make their businesses more successful. The website has different experts drawn from a variety of professions who share their opinions with readers on different topics. This makes it possible for readers to use the advice they obtain to improve their lifestyles. The website’s writers and analysts use simple analogies to make readers understand their messages easily.
The design of the website has been done in an effective way, which makes it easy for users to locate items they are interested in reading easily. The website’s design allows users to bookmark published items they find interesting, which they can refer to afterward. This approach helps to sustain their interest in the website. The website’s design has various segments that contain different types of content.
This is divided into six broad categories, namely, tech, finance, politics, strategy, life, and entertainment. These are displayed at the top of the page, and readers can scroll under each category to find different items they want to explore (Huang, 2008, p. 90). This encourages readers to explore the website and go through different topics that have relevant items that appeal to them. Therefore, the website’s design is responsive to users’ readership patterns and interests.
The website’s design also has several photographs and graphics, which give the website a strong visual appeal. The text is written in different types of fonts to reinforce meaning and direct readers’ attention to various types of content displayed by the website.
This makes it possible for readers to differentiate between headlines, news, and feature stories published by the website. Writers and contributors use pictures and other diagrams to illustrate stories that are published on the website, to make it easy for readers to understand what they mean (Reich, J., & Daccord, 2010, p. 78). These pictures add luster to the website because they make it more attractive and visually stimulating. They encourage readers to read and explore other items published on the website. The website‘s exterior design has different color tones, which makes it more attractive.
The website makes it possible for readers to interact and share their opinions regarding various news stories they read. This adds value to the website because writers and web administrators are able to identify topics that interest readers. This makes all writers and contributors get more feedback about content published on the website. This motivates them to work hard to produce high-quality content that satisfies readers’ expectations. Readers can correct factual errors made by writers, which makes them understand their mistakes. Therefore, they get an opportunity to improve their performance.
The constant interaction between the website’s contributors and its readers makes it possible for the editorial team to understand which topics interest readers. This encourages them to do more research to uncover interesting information that sustains readers’ interest (Salvendy, 2012, p. 79). The website is also linked to online social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, which makes it possible for readers to share what they have read with other users. Users are also made aware of new content posted on the website through social networking sites.
The blog has been in existence for close to 6 years after it was launched in 2007. It targets readers aged 18 to 45 who are interested in a variety of topics ranging from politics, entertainment, finance, and technology. The blog was founded by Dwight Merriman and Kevin Ryan, who also founded Double Click. Henry Blodget was also involved and has remained a crucial member of the editorial team. He worked previously as a financial analyst at Wall Street and helped the website’s editorial team to develop good business content.
References
Hoekman, R. (2010). Designing the obvious: A common sense approach to web & mobile application design. New York, NY: Pearson.
Huang, X. (2008). The emergence of online consumer groups. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest.
Reich, J., & Daccord, T. (2010). Best ideas for teaching technology. New York, NY: M.E Sharpe.
Salvendy, G (2012). Handbook of human factors and ergonomics. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Technorati Media (2013). 2013 digital influence report. New York NY: Author. Web.