XM vs SIRIUS: Websites Deconstructed
Friday, September 15, 2006 at 11:51 AM
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No doubt today the marketing folks at XM are talking about this article (every internet marketing professional reads ClickZ). They do a simple test of grabbing two people who are theoretically in the market for satellite radio, and get their input for surfing on XM's website.
The result is none-too-pleasing and worse... it's dead on.
XM's user interface leaves a bit to be desired as we figured out earlier this year, and not to mention that the look-and-feel has largely been unchanged since launch. But what the ClickZ article didn't touch on is Sirius' website (I suspect that'll be "Part 2"). I'd like dive a bit deeper into XM's homepage, and take a poke at Sirius' while we're at it.
First, while I think the big Flash banner on XM's homepage was a step in the right direction from the previous design, it takes up too much real estate to deliver too small of a message. Yes, the slides automatically rotate but there's too little information.
I much prefer Sirius' approach (below) where the promotional slideshow, the music neighborhoods, and a receiver spotlight are all above the fold and readily available. XM wastes a lot of real estate there, even the navbar is a bit wasteful.
Sirius also has two simply calls-to-action: "Get SIRIUS Now" and "Listen for Free." Done. Simple. XM's call-to-action are a bit all over the place: "Shop XM Radio," "Listen Now," "Get An XM Radio," "Sign up for a free trial" ... too much stuff.
Another thing that Sirius does is show their key content offerings right in the upper-left corner. Guess what everyone talks about when they talk about Sirius' content? You got it: Howard Stern, NFL, Martha Stewart. Sirius reinforces this. XM instead makes you scroll down to see their key offerings (or wait for the slideshow to rotate).
Speaking from a subscriber's point of view, XM also has a big glaring problem. It's hard to figure out where to manage your account. If I want to update my profile, the LAST thing I'll think of is to go to Customer Service - that's left for when I'm having problems with my account. Sirius puts the Manage Account link exactly where you expect it. On the flip side, I much prefer XM Radio Online to SIRIUS Internet Radio.
Honestly, I much prefer Sirius' website overall to XM's, though I have to say the flashy animations get annoying. Give us a way to turn that off easily please Sirius?
(Oh, and just so I'm not such a negative-Nancy, I'm quite impressed with XM's Exclusive Music section. It's a better look. Simple and clean.)
I could go on and on about this, but I'd rather hear what you all have to say. What was your impression before you subscribed to either service about their websites? What about as a subscriber what problems/benefits do you encounter?
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Comments
it took me a while going from site to site which one i wanted.when i would go to sirius.com i knew where i was going by the front page and with xm it took me three pages to find what they had.and while i am no fan of theirs and their fans will agree with me on this one
XM has done a lousy job promoting opie and anthony in the two years that they've been on XM they've been on the front of the site one week when they started on free fm.
i bought my radio from the sirius site.fast and easy.
sirius wins for me.
Posted by: sternfan73 ? | September 15, 2006 12:40 PM
Don't forget XM's HORRIBLE customer care interface. I think it's from Siebel and it sucks. It only works with IE 5.01+, Netscape 4.x+ and AOL 7+, and poorly with all of them. Changing your user-agent doesn't work either. It forces itself to a new window that resizes to be full-screen, it's slow, ugly and if I had to use it with any regularity I'd cancel my account.
Posted by: cfg ? | September 15, 2006 12:52 PM
The reality is that XM website sucks and needs to be rebuilt from the ground up by some good creative people.
XM seems to have missed the importance of the website to an overall marketing strategy.
Hopefully, the new marketing people will place a proper emphasis on the site -- not just its appearance, but the "user experience".
There is SO MUCH that could be done here that just screams for implementation.
Posted by: StackPointer ? | September 15, 2006 1:09 PM
i love XM, but i could shit a better website.
Posted by: delbert_grady ? | September 15, 2006 1:19 PM
"Honestly, I much prefer Sirius' website overall to XM's, though I have to say the flashy animations get annoying. Give us a way to turn that off easily please Sirius"
Honestly, both sites suck if you just want to find information quickly.
As a confirmed Hater of Flash (i.e.: The crutch for bad designers the world over), I can point you to the double-secret, hidden, non-Flash home page that Sirius offers.
I felt the need to search for it after their current shitty all-flash homepage gave me problems in Safari.
Works great in every browser I've tried it in:
http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/Page&c=HomePage&cid=1107196626224&flash=noflash
Posted by: MikeHunt ? | September 15, 2006 1:46 PM
The problem with XMs sloppy design is not limited to their website. All of their channel names are just as confusing. Most of the time its easier to navigate by artist name instead of station name. While Sirius has a few confusing names, as a whole they are much more descriptive.
Posted by: Steve | September 15, 2006 2:01 PM
If XM's main page were combined with the "What's On" page, it would be a great improvement.
Posted by: Jeremy | September 15, 2006 3:32 PM
I only got XM because of Opie and Anthony, but if I was just some shmuck looking into satellite radio, I wouldn't even think of XM. Sirius makes it much easier to find out what airs on their radios.
Posted by: johnnygriswold ? | September 15, 2006 3:51 PM
XM activation was horrid:
http://fluxam.livejournal.com/41770.html
Sirius wasn't an option since XM has the music I want and offers better codec sound.
XMfan.com was what I used for research.
It is incredible that XM hasn't hired some geeks to make the online stuff usable.
Posted by: Flux Amm | September 15, 2006 4:46 PM
XM activation was horrid:
http://fluxam.livejournal.com/41770.html
Sirius wasn't an option since XM has the music I want and offers better codec sound.
XMfan.com was what I used for research.
It is incredible that XM hasn't hired some geeks to make the online stuff usable.
Posted by: fluxam ? | September 15, 2006 4:48 PM
Yea, Sirius's website is miles ahead of XM's. Like you Ryan, I think it would be a good idea for them to allow a visitor to turn off flash however. They used to have this feature.
Posted by: Tyler | September 15, 2006 10:37 PM
You are right! The XM site is just plain horrible. Ever try to just find the MLB schedule for the day?
Wanna find Tom Petty's show fast?
And I also agree that the customer service part is just hideous. Customers should be able to control everything from there...billing, radios, etc... Can't do it. Have to call customer service in India.
Posted by: Cranky Greg | September 16, 2006 1:10 AM
XM customer care is horrible, try closing your account...
Posted by: Anonymous Coward | August 17, 2007 12:33 AM