Good Housekeeping Website Review

Good Housekeeping magazine website

Housekeeping: The management of a house and home affairs.
Source: Merriam-Webster.com

You think of the definition of housekeeping, and it typically doesn't elicit great feelings of excitement (especially for us working mothers). And it's not necessarily a word used to help describe modern family life. For many of us, housekeeping is the cooking, cleaning, laundry and such that we squeeze in on the evenings and weekends. We just do it to get by. So when I was asked to review the Good Housekeeping website, I approached it with a sense of apprehension. Will a brand established in 1885 really have an online offering of interest and value to the modern woman?

At the same time, I was impressed that the publication is celebrating its 125th birthday this year, which is a huge feat in the media world. There are very few publications that can claim to have evolved to meet the demands of an ever-changing audience and have been financially successful for that period of time. Not only has the publication been successful, but from it has also grown the Good Housekeeping Seal as a stand-alone brand. The seal continues to be a highly recognized symbol of our time, synonymous with quality and reliability, and has even been used in media quotes by a wide range of celebrities, from KISS front man Gene Simmons to Bruce Willis.

Strength of Content: 8
Content, content, content. An online review described the magazine as being a publication with "something for everyone," and the online version continues this tradition. There does seem to be a little something for everyone (with the caveat that "everyone" is a woman 25–64), with the main focus on food, family, home, style and products. The current website proudly promotes its seasonal features, including Fourth of July entertaining tips, summer fashion trends and must-buy travel tools and gadgets. Whatever your summer interests—staying home or traveling, with or without kids—there seems to be a story for you.

The homepage also boasts a variety of entry points through quizzes, videos, games and podcasts.

Ease of Use and Navigation: 7
The main navigation is broken down into categories of Recipes & Entertaining, House & Home, Diet & Health, Style & Beauty, Family & Pets, Saving Money and Best Products.

Each section is thoughtfully laid out, leading with an interactive piece, and is followed by subheads along the left. These sections include links to areas such as interactive Q&A forums and libraries of interactive content such as podcasts, quizzes and games. What I like about it is that there's a formula for each section, yet each of the subheads contains interactive features geared for the needs of the particular subject. I'll get into that more in the next section, Use of New Technology.

The main navigation points are great; they're easy to follow and consistent. The reason I docked some points is that there are so many additional entry points, especially on the front page. Catering to everyone does have its drawbacks. The front page reminds me of a used-car salesman trying to lure me in with a piece of content everywhere I turn. It's scattershot and makes it a little hard for me to focus.

Use of New Technology: 8
While there are some stories that appear to be a shorter form of the current print magazine articles, for the most part the site uses interactive features to engage its visitors. Each section has one or two interesting items that require the user to input data in order to get a customized response. Some of my favorite examples include:

Diet & Health - The Diet Matchmaker, a tool that allows you to find the best diet plan for your lifestyle.

Recipes & Entertaining - Recipe Finder, a quick navigation tool that suggests a recipe based on an ingredient that you have at home.

House & Home - Paint & Preview Rooms, a neat little area that allows you to try out different paint colors in a room to see if you like them before embarking on a journey to the hardware store.

Additionally, the content is peppered with slideshows just about everywhere you look—crafts, patriotic desserts, wide-leg pants. Whatever your daily passion, there seems to be a photo montage just for you.

My only question is how often do these features change? The site is of more value if it updates with new features on a regular basis, and some of the areas do feel a bit dated.

Design and Layout: 7
The design and layout of the main sections is good. Larger images dominate the main sections, and the secondary stories are neatly laid out around them. My biggest issue is the placement of the ads. Yes, I know they're paying for that "free" content I'm consuming, but in some areas it feels as if there is as much advertising as content, and that can create a confusing user experience.

As I mentioned earlier, the homepage especially has so many entry points that it can be overwhelming. I felt as if I was going in multiple directions. The site also is big on rotating content, which is a great tool for making users feel as if the content is being refreshed in a timely manner. The drawback with that is I found it hard to go back and revisit content I had previously viewed.

Level of Social Media Sophistication: 4
It doesn't feel as if Good Housekeeping has fully grasped how to promote the social media resources it's managing. Yes, there are blogs containing typical stories that you would expect to see from moms and Good Housekeeping Institute experts, but beyond that, you need to do some digging to find links to the magazine's social media outlets.

Each of the subpages links to Facebook and Twitter, and the social media pages are maintained with regular posts. The number of followers is low, especially in comparison to the magazine's competitors. Currently there are just over 5,500 people who like the site, compared to more than 36,000 who like Real Simple and 17,000 who like Better Homes & Gardens.

So the amount of activity the magazine has on the social media sites is good, but it should be promoted more heavily on the magazine's website. If I weren't looking for it, I don't know that I would have seen the links.

All in all, the Good Housekeeping site is a nice package that offers readers a good deal of content, particularly in the food and home categories. The question is can it compete with the rest? They've made it 125 years ... can they make it another 125 in this digital age?

Overall Rating: 34 of 50

Posted By: Emily Wright