Women & Web 3.0 (Part 2)

Top Players and Rankings

With more and more women going online for quality content on health, beauty, parenting, shopping, entertainment, dating, etc. there is a rising demand for women’s portals. Some of the top sites for women are iVillage, BellaOnline, Handbag and Janemag. Style, fashion, beauty, shopping sites are very popular among young college going women as well as working women.

The women’s sites are experiencing strong growth. iVillage has grown its user base in 11 of the past 12 months. Glam, which recently overtook Disney’s women network and Conde Nast’s Network, is catching up fast with iVillage. It claims to have over 16 million global visitors, although the way their traffic is measured is somewhat ambiguous.

According to a comScore Media Metrix report published in June 2007, Glam Media is now the leading women’s Internet property with 17.3 million unique visitors in May 2007. auFeminin.com, founded in 1999 is the leading women’s portal in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland and UK. In 2006, auFeminin.com had revenue growth of 54 percent and an EBIT margin of 54.9 percent.

The increase in the number of women’s portals and the growing popularity of various women’s sites can be directly linked to the increasing earning power of the women and the financial freedom enjoyed by them. Today, popularity of women’s sites is a global phenomenon and we are seeing that in countries like India and China there is an explosion of niche lifestyle portals targeted at women. In India for example, sites like memsaab.com, indiwo.com, etc. are also experiencing significant rise in traffic levels and page views.

New entrants and Innovators

Women’s sites are making a shift from the mass to the niche. Sites like WomenWorking or Advancing Women are targeted at working women. Newer sites like More, are dedicated to women over forty years of age. They include such sections as anti-aging solutions or health articles on Osteoporosis or Arthritis. Again, ClubMom is targeted at moms, would-be-moms, new or aged moms who can stay connected, share their experiences, photos or meet daily challenges.

Women-specific blogs covering the topics like fashion, style, gossips and celebrity news are gaining rapidly and niche blogs like Popsugar, targeted at women are experiencing increasing popularity. Workerette a blog website for working women has been experiencing a rapid rise in page views and unique visitors.

Women’s Corp is building a new portal for business women, which will utilize user generated content extensively and cover entrepreneurial experiences, career issues, videos, entertainment, food, sports, fashion, etc. The recently launched HerFabLife is a social book marking community for young and trendy women interested in the latest fashion styles, newest releases and lifestyle trends.

Women’s sites are showing a convergence trend. With social networking, video, open forums, live TV, the online women’s sites are redefining information exchange. iVillage recently launched an interactive TV show across 10 markets.

[Part 1]
[Part 2]
[Part 3]
[Part 4]
[Part 5]

This segment is part 2 in the series : Women & Web 3.0
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