Post #2: Website, check!

A website is like an impression. A good website makes for a good first impression. If the impression you give is one of disorganized, untrustworthy, or even bland, then no one will approach or interact with you for a second time. A website is important because it is what directs the traffic – whether direct by the site’s URL, referral from another site, or search from search engine’s results – into becoming your customers.

When visiting the L'Oréal Paris USA website (https://www.lorealparisusa.com/) , you are met with the landing page promoting their current item or collaboration. At the time of this publication, the landing page displayed the ad banner for their new Air Volume Mega Mascara product. Besides their ad banner, the website itself is of a simple design, displaying their new products, product categories, and other related articles. It follows the website conventions, with the logo not taking too much header space in the top center and below, the subhead menu bar that breaks pages into defined product areas (makeup, skincare, hair color, etc.) with each category having a dropdown menu with specific product areas (makeup = eye makeup, face makeup). Since the context of the website is to create customers and lead to a purchase of their product(s) via approved sellers, the navigation overall is important to gain the attention and interest of the visitor to continue on the site, and L'Oréal Paris does a fantastic job in having their navigation be simple (almost minimalist) but eye-catching and wide ranging. While visitors can purchase L'Oréal Paris USA products from third-party websites, https://www.lorealparisusa.com/  is the real deal, and the visitors themselves can see the trust symbols located on the page. The logo “L'Oréal Paris”, their social media display at the bottom of the page, their privacy and terms page, and their customer service “Contact Us” page, are all effective trust symbols that show the customer or visitor that the webpage is verified and again, trustworthy.

The color scheme of the webpage is very aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, not too flamboyant but elegant, true to the French feeling of elegance. The main layout of the page is monochromatic, but product images are displayed in their full colors with a transparent background and article images are vibrant without taking too much space and attention from the theme. It allows for the visitor to be focused on what they came for and removes any unnecessary distractions from the landing page or category page, such as external ads from third-parties, pop-ups, videos and music. Although it is a multi-product landing page, it does not overwhelm you with all the products the site offers, nor does it clutter the page with numerous recommendations or excessive categories. Compared to the landing page of MAC Cosmetics, the L'Oréal Paris USA landing is much more aesthetically pleasing and to the point; the MAC landing page has too many vibrant colors and the display images clutter the page. Overall, L'Oréal Paris USA hits all the checkmarks of having a good webpage design. It’s usable, clear in what it offers and promotes, displays the necessary image in high quality, has trust symbols located at the bottom of the page, no distractions, and the color scheme is simple but radiates elegance.

As expected from L'Oréal. Even if the website is directed at the American market, it continues to replicate that French elegance in their designs, both physical and digital. I can spend so much time just admiring the art of their web design, and I applaud the team behind this beautiful example of good webpage design.

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Reference:

• Larson, J., & Draper, S. (2020). Chapter 2: Web Design. In Digital marketing essentials. Rexburg, ID: Edify.