Websites – it goes without saying that if you’re reading this post, that you’ve seen your share. Each manga publisher has their own website and while they all stand to serve generally the same purpose, they all do it a little differently and some with more effect than others.
In this digital age, websites are for many the key indicators of a company’s status – their dependability and professionalism are all immediately measured by the upkeep of a website. When a visitor appears on a site and sees it in disarray, such as littered with errors or simply full of outdated information, it’s an immediate negative impression. Are they still publishing? Is this information accurate? Do they care their website is broken? And if a website looks poorly designed, what reason would a reader have to think otherwise of their books?
But a strong website can have multiple benefits – information about books and their availability, full control advertising over their own products and services, an indicator of the publisher’s design style and simply imbuing faith in a company’s strength and current activity.
Over the next little while, I’ll be posting my reviews of different publisher websites, a follow-up of sorts I’ve been wanting to do since my Manga Publishers and Me posts last year. In these posts I’ll be looking at different points: Visuals, where I share what I think about how they look; Usability, where I took a glance at how they work; and Online Presence, where I’ll focus on the company’s online interaction.
I know publishers’ websites mean a lot to me, and those that I find helpful, I use on a daily basis. But I’m curious – how important are manga publisher websites important to you? And if you use them, what’s the most important part? Has a shabby website ever left you hesitant to buy their books or a snazzy website given you reason to make a purchase?
Let me know what you think and you can expect my first publisher site review up tomorrow afternoon.
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