FanSided’s rise to prominence is nothing short of remarkable.
What started out as a small blog dedicated to the Kansas City Chiefs, now stands as a robust network comprised of over 240 sports and entertainment sites–all powered through WordPress, no less. The over 154 percent growth achieved over the past year and 10 million-plus monthly uniques alone crystallizes the rapid, tangible progress.
Nevertheless, every day remains a grind as a startup setting their goals to match and eclipse competitors, the likes of Bleacher Report and SB Nation, for sports fans’ attention.
If the recent Super Bowl can serve as any indication for publishers, fans will flock to mobile. According to a study by Soasta, 41 percent of mobile owners used apps while watching the big game. This reality continually manifests itself on a daily basis. It also presents one of the biggest opportunites for FanSided to evolve.
On Monday, FanSided released an updated iteration of its iOS app. Matt Blake, Partner and Chief Product Officer, mentions to SportTechie that the “wow factor” is at the crux of this version, whenever a user downloads it. They should immediately get the sense or wonder how come they haven’t experienced reading sports news in this style beforehand. This approach distills the importance to take this app to the next level.
By and large, this app version completely enhances the UX. The look and feel has radically changed from its predecessor, but maintains a familiar composition to the website. Large images and bolded headlines are prominently displayed. It’s quite smooth and expedite throughout the app, be it the home interface and other features. They managed to change the overall experience, while keeping the general simplicity of the app intact.
Blake also describes, technologically, that worked on some of the core menu UI elements in order to improve the users’ experience. Two areas that stand out are the ease of use between opting out of push notifications as well as swiftly able to change among different topics. He acknowledges that there’s been “a bit of confusion on how to properly edit Favorites” coupled with the aforementioned push notifications. Each issue has, indeed, been sufficiently resolved. At the same time, users can expect the same functionality.
The level of personalization caters to any user. This configuration leads to the cohesion involved when switching from Trending Stories, Nearby, and Favorites under just one tap, which Blake believes is the best feature. By doing so, the granular, practical level of allowing users to select what teams is apparent. This aspect should prosper considering the hyperlocal nature of FanSided itself.
During this process, there isn’t a tantamount preference of web versus mobile traffic. They’re both equally critical for sustainability–in spite of the online platform being built first.
“Publishers can’t afford to ignore either one. We are trying to grow all of our products simultaneously, so that readers can consume our content, however they choose to do so,” says Blake.
Accordingly. this philosophy leads to why FanSided’s iOS app is better than the new wave incumbents in the hyper-competitive sports media landscape: “The Bleacher Report app is a great app. Our stuff is featured in it for a lot of the teams we cover; and we love that. Bleacher Report has chosen to put emphasis on aggregating content, including their own. We have chosen not to aggregate, because we want every article in our app to have the same great look and feel. We want users to come back to our app to keep up with their favorite teams and topics; and want want it to be fast and fluid. It is that simple; and hopefully simplicity is what makes our app unique and fresh to sports fans.”
FanSided’s app aims to help address the problem fans face when it comes to being inundated with content and not receiving what they want in a more searchable, convenient way. With their network yeti coined as Everest, they, too, are climbing to the top of that very mountain.