MarthaStewart.com Evolution

Read, Write, Web has written a great synopsis of the design evolution of marthastewart.com, tracing its development over the last three years. The online magazine did a review Martha's website in 2007 when it relauched its 2.0 version, which was able to host new blogs and photo-sharing software, along with chat forums and recipe swaps. Read the full review here.

I also wrote a history of Martha Stewart on the web, which you can read here. It is a full history of the development of the website, as well as some of the satellite sites that the company set up to promote some of its brands.

Below are images of the main page of MarthaStewart.com, the first from the summer of 2005 and the second from March, 2010. Quite a bit has changed in those five years:

In 2005, the layout was blocked by category with a lefthand menu dividing the site's content into three main categories: Magazines, Television and Shopping. On the right and along the bottom are galleries of the company's brands and magazines. The prominence of the new television show, "Martha" takes center stage while a small banner of external advertising is located at the top of the page. Corporate and contact links are located along the very bottom.

In 2010, the site has the feel of an opened recipe box with tabs along the top featuring the core content areas of the company: Food, Entertaining, Holidays, Weddings, Crafts, Home & Garden, Pets, Whole Living, Community and Shop. (The additon of Pets, Whole Living and Community reflect the evolution of the brand and the site's expansion.) Martha's new personal blog has lots of prominence on the site and a changing gallery of main images and topics keeps the reader interested and focused. At the bottom is a series of 'bests' including gardening and cooking tips, crafts for kids and the best TV moments. Also note the much more prominent location of external advertising on the site, which has generated millions more for the company since 2005.