The complete site refresh is in response to increasing demand for premium online content among the growing number of visitors to ELLEuk.com, which now has more than 525,000 unique users a month, up an outstanding 58% year on year, says Hearst.
The new-look site is also designed to meet advertisers’ increasing demand for exciting and innovative new ad formats, with key advertising clients and partners including Net-A-Porter, Chloe & Gucci.
The launch of the new look is being supported by digital marketing agency iCrossing and is the agency’s first UK collaboration since its acquisition by Hearst Magazine’s UK’s parent company Hearst Corporation in June 2010.
As part of the re-design, ELLEuk.com’s content will now be even easier to navigate with greater prominence given to unique ELLEuk.com features such as ELLE TV, which houses exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from cover shoots, street-style and beauty school videos and footage from catwalk shows around the world. The new-look site will include an ELLE TV player on each page.
The slick, premium new design also makes clever use of space, allowing it to include more content in a beautiful, clean and streamlined layout, using the entire length of the page. It also includes redesigned image galleries using bigger images, giving the site an even more striking visual impact.
The revamp, the first for the brand under Hearst Magazines UK’s ownership, takes in every aspect of ELLEuk.com site from its content management system leading to even faster load times, to a complete design refresh for each of its viewer channels, including Fashion, Style, Beauty, and Travel, while fashion and beauty news, updated hourly, has been integrated into channels across the site. It also includes new ad formats offering the opportunity for greater integration for commercial opportunities and ecommerce.
The redesign of ELLEuk.com also incorporates even more social elements, building on its phenomenal social media success, boasting one of the biggest Twitter followings among UK magazines in its genre at 281,000 and the largest Facebook fan bases with 125,000 friends. The new site aims to drive even more reader interaction with content, boosting the number of comment opportunities and emphasising features such as ‘like’, ‘share’, ‘retweet’ and ‘print’.
Rebecca Miskin, Digital Strategy Director, Hearst Magazines UK, said: “ELLEuk.com has enjoyed phenomenal growth over the past few years and it is hugely exciting to be able to reward its success with a uniquely fresh design that reflects the site’s innovative content, and that will further extend the ELLEuk.com premium user experience and boost commercial partnership opportunities for our advertisers.”
Carrie Gorman, Editor of ELLEuk.com said: “ELLEuk.com’s content has always been premium and the new design reflects this perfectly. As the UK’s number one fashion and beauty brand we are committed to making the ELLEuk.com experience an even better one for our users, while continuing to engage with them in as many ways as possible.”
Paul Doleman, CEO, iCrossing UK said: “Ensuring that your content is highly relevant and visible to your audience is the key to a successful digital marketing strategy. ELLEuk.com and the Hearst Magazines UK team excel at producing award-winning content that people want to read. iCrossing excels at making that content visible when, and where, people want to see it – it’s a winning combination in a highly competitive space. We look forward to working with the team throughout the launch of Elleuk.com and ongoing.”
