Website Watch

AFL overhauls its website .... again

In a move that will please some of its fans, the AFL has given its website yet another overhaul, releasing a new look afl.com.au.

Regular readers would remember that I only recently reviewed the last set of changes to the AFL website.

The site is now obviously optimised for speed, with a focus on stylesheets for a lightweight, online newspaper look.  The reduction in embedded media and large sponsor image certainly solves some of the site's biggest issues - users waiting half a minute for the site to load.  The rich media is still available which is highlighted through clever use of icons and interface design.  As a result of quicker loading pages, the site will most likely retain more users for longer.

While the redesign has gone some way to solving problems, it still appears to have some issues such as overlapping content on some browsers and can look a bit messy and be a little difficult to read at times.  For example, the poll pops up behind the scrolling marquee on Internet Explorer, meaning you can't actually select most of the options.  The RSS icon on the homepage confusingly just reloads the page which will no doubt confuse many users.  Suprisingly, the site still does not support friendly URLs, which hurts it in terms of search engine optimisation (SEO).  One of the other big complaints from users of the site has been the streaming video content.  It is not yet evident whether this has been fixed on the new site. 

Update: The club websites even made recent headlines when they were blocked by Google for suspected malware.  The webmasters did not return Google's emails, consequently letting down numerous AFL fans.

While the redesign it is a good step forward, again the site appears to be "launched" as a beta version, showing a lack of testing and professionalism by both the developers and their customer.  AFL fans will no doubt continue to be unsatisfied with the league's online presence and will continue to experience frustrations getting accustomed to the new site.

Expect the new look to flow on to many of the AFL's affiliate websites over the coming months.

Previous AFL website

New Look AFL website

Herald Sun gets a new look

The Herald Sun, one of Australia's best selling papers, has launched a new look website.

Advertised as "a virtual lick of paint", the new site doesn't offer the depth of rival news sites like The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, which were recently redesigned.

The new heraldsun.com.au is only really a logo change with some styles. 

There is a prominent new video and multimedia section, something which is becoming more popular with online news sites.

The other main change has been an increasing focus on blogs and user contributed content.  A "Latest Reader's Comment" now prominently features on the homepage.  Additionally, there is a new "Submit Comment" icon on blog pages and an increase in Google Adsense ads.

New look Herald Sun website (above)

A key difference between the Herald Sun site and The Age site is the Herald Sun's commitment to social bookmarking as a means to increase the prominence of articles.  While both have "Email a Friend" for articles, the Herald Sun articles can easily be submitted to Digg, Delicious and NewsVine

Today's Most Popular is a feature which isn't new, but is increasing in use.  It features the Top 5 stories from networked sites such as AdelaideNow, PerthNow, Daily Telegraph, The Australian and News.com.au some of which also share articles and content.  The Age also has this feature, however it does not show as many top stories or as many networked sites from different cities.

Commonwealth Bank website tries to keep up with the Joneses

The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) recently redesigned the website and seems to be committed to improving it further. The new site takes a leaf out of ANZ's book, with some slick graphics, some user centred design elements, icons and interactive Flash elements.

The ANZ site has featured many of these things since mid 2006, and while the Commonwealth Bank obviously aspires to keep up with the competitors, the website is still not quite there. Both banks posted huge profits this year (4.4 billion for CBA and 4.2 billion for ANZ in 2007). Perhaps the mere 200 million difference in profit which separates the two banks accounts for some of the discrepancy, although from the looks of it, I doubt that the Commonwealth Bank spent it on their website. Though I have often been critical of the banks websites, and I find it suprising how many financial services organisations have substandard websites. Of the Big Four major banks, however, the ANZ is the clear leader in this area in my opinion.  NAB was quick to follow, but the CBA have been slightly left behind in this department.

So here is a side-by-side comparison of the old and the new for the CBA:

A view of the old look CBA website homepage (above)

A new look for the CBA (above)

So now onto my critical review ..