Home / Articles / About / Contact

In the October 11, 1999 issue of Adweek magazine, the latest statistics available on teen website visits were published, courtesy of Media Metrix, an internet monitoring firm. The chart above, containing this data, invites analysis. One of the most interesting findings is that, compared to approximately one year ago, the list of the most popular websites visited by teens has completely changed in composition—there is not a single holdover from the previous October. What is causing such drastic turnover? How can other sites achieve success and avoid a similar fate? Provoked by the data, we decided to address this issue. For instance, note the remarkable percentage increase in female site visits overall. Where once girls trailed their male peers in visits to nearly all of the most popular sites, they now surpass them across the board, and are even more likely to visit e-commerce sites than teen boys.

One reason we believe sites like Alloy.com, Delias.com, and Gurlpages.com are so popular among teen girls is that they combine aspects of a magazine (articles, reviews, horoscopes) with shopping, while at the same time creating a virtual community where kids can communicate with their peers. These sites establish basic layout design and navigation, provide topics and food-for-thought, construct chat rooms, message boards and polls, and let visitors create the bulk of the content. They are interactive arenas where teens are given the chance to state opinions, submit questions, or simply converse with others on subjects that interest them.

These participatory, communal features are key to the success of these websites among youth, both boys and girls. They want to be heard, they love to give opinions and, like many generations of youth before them, they love to gossip. Relevant, entertaining and fresh content is crucial. By letting your visitors get involved in that process, you help meet that goal, while at the same time making teens feel your site is a forum of their own. Addressing the design of these top sites, they are fairly well-organized and easily navigated. In addition, they are visually stimulating, through the use of bright colors and an array of photos and icons, often coupled with motion components. Layouts are not particularly sophisticated and actually follow standard patterns consisting of a home page with menu options, various subsections and links.

Although they have been successful with this format for the time-being, these sites could definitely push the envelope more in terms of innovation and creativity, especially given the sophisticated media tastes of the New Consumer. This is one arena in which a company targeting this demographic could really differentiate themselves, through savvy design and the use of more advanced internet technologies.

Whatever look and composition you ultimately choose, it is very important to immediately catch the New Consumer's attention. Top sites on this year's list often highlight fun or unusual information and features on their home pages that encourage teens to peruse their sites further. Some of the sites on last year's list lack much content on the first few pages. As the number of websites directed at teens continues to multiply, you can't risk losing visitor interest before they reach the meatier parts of your site. Put some substance up front.

Still in the infancy of the Web, internet technology is and will continue to evolve at a rapid rate. Sites need to constantly experiment and keep current to stay ahead. Successful sites will be those that are viewed as works in progress that will continually grow. The exploration of innovative navigational architecture and the ways in which information is communicated and revealed are two important facets of this process. Traditional formats consisting of two-dimensional pages will become increasingly complex until they address three dimensions through both time and depth. Along with this transition, the home page, which now often serves as a "table of contents," will be transformed. Once bandwidth issues are resolved, video will become a key component as well.

Websites whose sole focus is e-commerce are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to capturing this audience, especially the half which is male and even less interested in internet shopping, at least at this point. Despite the increase in companies offering online payment services for kids (ICanBuy.com, DoughNet.com, Allowance.net, etc.), it is still quite difficult for them to make internet purchases. In addition, they enjoy the mall experience—spending quality time with friends as they talk and shop. If these sites hope to cannibalize some of that spending, they need to recreate that experience by offering more entertainment and interaction. Music video clips, sound bites, video games and virtual dressing rooms are a number of features which are beginning to crop up on teen-oriented sites. Also, new technology allows kids to hang out in cyberspace together, linking their computers together to surf the Web in tandem.

The success of such virtual communities speaks of a physical deprivation of such interaction among today's youth. With declining parental roles and easy access to information, New Consumers are seeking access to knowledge and guidance on their own, and will increasingly do so over the internet. We predict sites which address problems and worries related to life choices and personal growth, as some of the top sites mentioned above address in a rather rudimentary way, will continue to increase in popularity. Offering an information-based spirituality—a faith built on facts, they fill a void in the lives of teens.

The internet was built on the power of the community and is now a battlefield for the individual. Give youth the tools and space to express themselves and connect with others, for the development of a rich, interactive forum is key to the vitality of your website.

SOURCES:
Media Metrix as published in Adweek, October 11, 1999.