MemorandumDate: March 8, 2016To: Lehua LedbetterFrom: Cameron HebertSubject: Website Edit of localsonly401.com

Locals Only 401 is a developing brand complimented with a unique blog about life in Rhode Island. Despite being the smallest state in the country, Rhode Island is one of the most beautiful and amazing places in the world. They even have their own original apparel line that takes inspiration from living the Rhode Island lifestyle. Locals Only hopes to bring readers breaking news, entertainment, and anything else that sparks interest. They try to add humor to the blogs in hopes to get an occasional laugh. The site is also very active on social media platforms to interact with their readers and encourage submissions of stories, videos and unique pictures to enhance the view of this one of a kind lifestyle.

Overview

1. The Website2. Web Design Concepts3. Internal and External Communications4. Examples of branding5. Summary6. Works Cited

The Website

Locals Only has developed a logo of their own similarly based off of the original crest of Rhode Island and its unique anchor design.

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The site that Locals Only 401 has developed over the years serves a very unique purpose in a market where blog sites are growing in numbers constantly. Websites such as Barstool Sports, Total Frat Move or Bro Bible provide great models as to what today’s blog sites should look like and Locals Only tries to follow. When comparing Locals Only to big name brands, it is small scale but seem to be tapping into their own niche of the market. As I mentioned in my introduction, some of the details reflect much of their sites “About Us” section, reflecting their mission statement. The real purpose of this website is to create a fan base of readers interested in all things happening for the state of Rhode Island. The audience that the site hopes to draw from the most is a younger crowd consisting of mostly college students but is still popular with older people and mostly people from Rhode Island but is not limited to RI.

Web Design Concepts

The website is easily usable and it is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The site hierarchy is very clear, as the content and features are apparent. You know where to go on the site to get what you want and you know how you got there. One of the two problems I do have with the site is its background. The colors are a bit distracting while reading at times but it does put an imprint in your mind of their logo. The other would have to be the lack of a search box on the home page, but exists on the rest of the site. The layout is based like a typical blog site with categories representing the different types of stories that are being written. Also in terms of navigation, the site is very direct and getting lost on a particular page is not likely for a web user with even poor skills. There is no use for a tool such as a breadcrumb because the site is not that complicated. The design of this blogsite is based very closely to a model site such as Barstool Sports which is an extremely successful website and brand. The use of featured promos is crucial for Locals Only clothing and apparel section along with their presence on social media. I would not necessarily say that this site uses a tagline but the name of the site is built as its own brand and is self-explanatory to the purpose. I feel that this website effectively uses web design strategies that easy to use and visually appealing.

Locals Only Twitter Logo

Similar examples of site navigation bars: Locals Only (above) compared to Barstool Sports (below)

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Internal and External CommunicationsThe site is writing to whoever their readers are and their interests. The posts try to form a creative way for a normal boring news story to be broadcasted. I think as a writer for the site, I also like to think that I am writing for the people I know along with my friends and family because we are proud of the place we live and we want to show others how exciting it is to live here. It seems to be an underlying message trying to draw fans of the site to come visit if you are not from Rhode Island and how to live the life of an islander which is unique to New England. As an external source for communication, Locals Only is extremely familiar with social media as the site broadcasts through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube and has gathered a significant following. By effectively using the tool of social media, and writing the stories the way people want them to be heard, creates a consistency that keeps people coming back.

Here are a few examples of how Locals Only effectively uses their apparel and fans as a way to build their brand:

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Summary

Locals Only 401 as a title of the site that the creators came up with, fits its purpose and image perfectly. It’s a website created and run by only local residents from RI. After auditing this site, I found that we do have some work to do and there are parts of our site that if improved, will hopefully draw in even more viewers. By changing our background, it may look more visually appealing while reading. Another recommendation I would make is the addition to visual appeal would be to move the archives on the side bar of the page where the featured promos are and create a new tab in the navigation bar. Having the pleasure of seeing this blog evolve from its start has been a journey and I am very proud to know the hard work all of us writers have put into our site is starting to take off. We have created a presence in local colleges, towns and taken social media by storm and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

Works Cited● www.localsonly401.com ● Google Image Search● http://www.barstoolsports.com