Have you recently browsed Yahoo’s website? Don’t be surprised of the new look. Yes, Yahoo has revamped its website’s homepage. This longed-for redesign of the primary entry into Yahoo’s website occurred several months after the company hired their new CEO. The new look of Yahoo’s homepage debuted in the United States. Days after its launch in the US, it was unveiled to everyone around the globe.
So, why did Yahoo have to redesign their website’s homepage? Was there really a need to redesign? How did web users welcome Yahoo’s homepage redesign?
Why Yahoo Redesigned Its Homepage?
In the last four years, Yahoo has experienced a significant financial weakness and revenue drop. From 2008 to 2012, Yahoo’s profit dropped by about 30% since more advertising activities surged to online rivals like social networking giant, Facebook, Inc., and search engine king, Google, Inc. Yahoo’s new CEO saw that the redesign will likely “inspire and delight” web users to use Yahoo’s services regularly. With this, it can definitely revitalize and recover the revenue growth of Yahoo, Inc.
Even though Yahoo’s failing revenue, its homepage is still one of the most visited pages in the web. However, web visitors of Yahoo.com spent not as much as they check in. Additionally, there haven’t been a significant number of return visits every month. The problem of capturing more web users’ online time is probably one of the reasons that pushed Yahoo to redesign.
What To Expect From The Redesigned Yahoo
Although the redesign of Yahoo’s homepage is not that radical, it has several alterations which can certainly draw the attention of a web user for a considerable amount of online time.
For years, Yahoo has already gathered a lot of information about the web users who have been visiting their website, specifically those who logged in while browsing. In addition, those people who connected Yahoo to their social media accounts have also helped the company to know which stories and subjects appeal to more web users. On top of that, Yahoo has also developed more refined means to determine which topics will interest and drive different web users to its homepage so that the stories featured will cater to the various tastes of visitors.
More and additional tools are also provided by the company so that web users can personally fine-tune and choose their areas of interest. Its news feeds has also its share of revamp as it will now continuously be refreshed with more material as a web user will scroll down. The infinite scroll of stories can be tailored to the web user’s preferences and filled with friends’ recommendations on social networking sites.
With the popularity of web browsing through smartphones and tablets, one can easily peruse a number of stories. The new homepage displays text snippets of stories which is very helpful when browsing on mobiles devices with smaller screens.
The left side of the new homepage is devoted to the various services of Yahoo while the right side designed for Yahoo “utilities.” Utilities include finance, weather, video clips, sports, and more. Each utility can be set to what a user want like the weather in a particular area, stocks in a personal investment portfolio, etc. A utility can be cancelled if the web user wishes.
“Netizens” Take On Yahoo’s New Look
There have been mixed reviews and reactions on Yahoo’s redesigned homepage. Of course, there are those that welcomed and embraced the company’s move positively. However, there are a number of “netizens” or web users who found it as an epic fail.
Many have found the new homepage as personal and intuitive mainly because of its customizable news feed which allows any web user to browse the latest headlines and articles based on their preferences. Although this change is not that dramatic, it is still new and different which gives a fresh twist on the “Yahoo experience.” Apart from its optimization for tablets and smartphones, a number of web users appreciate Yahoo’s new look as it incorporates social streams. With this, it is branded as the more social-centric homepage.
Of course, instead of improving its homepage, there are others who think that Yahoo actually failed to do so. Several people disclosed that it is now their least favorite online destination. Many found the “infinite scroll” to be horrible and not user-friendly among other things. Others find the homepage quite annoying and too difficult to navigate. After having browsed Yahoo’s new homepage, many dismayed web users are asking the company the question, “Why fix something that wasn’t broke?”
Well, if you ask me, change is good. However, change for the sake of changing isn’t always best. Now, the company said that the redesigned homepage was just the first of many. Yahoo is not done yet. Let’s wait and see what they will roll out in the coming months.
How about you? Do you love Yahoo’s new homepage?
