As a follow up to our last discussion which resulted in some pretty opinionated comments, we recently had the chance to look at the aftermath of the new layouts to various websites on the Gawker network. Looking a these traffic charts, the conclusion is pretty universal: Ouch. This is a great reminder that if you don't listen to the users that made you so popular, bad things are bound to happen. Traffic may still ramp up over time, but the damage to the user base has been done.
Its frustrating because you'd think that lessons would have been learned from the Digg fiasco. I speak in this opinion post as a frustrated fan who wants things to go back to normal. Kotaku however, was not the worst off in terms of taking a traffic hit. Who was it? Find out after the jump.
If heads haven't rolled yet, call me very surprised. The celebrity gossip website took the equivalent of a traffic punch to the nuts. Online communities can be quite fickle. Discuss. Traffic stats (Via)
If heads haven't rolled yet, I have no idea what it will take to make them realize this was a terrible idea.
ReplyDeleteThis is just like what happened with DiggV4...Never ignore the users that made you big in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine how stupid the person who approved these new designs must be feeling right now.
ReplyDeleteI would totally go back to their website if it didn't take an hour to load. I feel bad for them.
ReplyDeleteGawker was one of my favorite websites. Loved the snark and humor of their news. Then I went on a two week vacation and returned to the awful "new" Gawker site. What in the world are they thinking? The re-design is one of the worst I have ever seen.
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