Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Wide range of features and resources . |
| Disadvantages: |
Website is on a slow server, much of the content is out - of - date . |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
Excite is a web portal. Simply, a website that offers a wide range of different tools to assist your online experience.
The most famous site of this genre is Yahoo!, although there are many 'portals' out there. Here's a run down on what Excite has to offer:
Search Engine - One of the main features of this site. Functions as an intelligent engine, but isn't great on accuracy or speed. Nor is it updated regularly, it can be very hard to get a site listed within this search engine.
Email - Standard, web-based email. Not too bad, hosts all the main features you would expect. Although the situation isn't helped by excite's slow servers. It is also WAP enabled.
Free SMS - Pretty good by all accounts, although some messages have gone astray with me.
E-Cards - A fairly good range of e-cards. (These are images that can be customized and sent to friends by email, like birthday cards, etc)
Chat - As with most 'chat' facilites offered on these type of sites, are full of kids and dirty old men. Quite standard facilites.
Excite Channels - These are simply different topics with their own dedicated areas on the website. Each area contains reviews, buying advice, and related website links and that kind of thing.
Shopping - Excite has it's own shopping area, affiliated with different
online stores and also provides auctions. I haven't tried them out on here as yet, but look quite good.
Other feature's include; News headlines, maps, a 'salary checker', weather forecasts, up-to-date share prices and facility to set up your own 'reminders'.
Now for my opinion on it all:
I found excite very slow, in comparison to other online facilities I have used. Their email is OK, but I prefer private POP3 email that I can reply upon. The one plus for Excite is the fact that it has a dedicated UK portal. Unlike Yahoo! UK & Ireland, that seems to be a clone of the US site, with the title changed.
From the point of view of a 'webmaster', it is very difficult to get listed on Excite in my experience. Maybe it is because my websites are poor? I don't think they are, so maybe someone out there could give me a tip or two on how to get listed on here? I have mastered every other search engine apart from this one!
One last thing I like about Excite is the ability to change the layout, background colour and the specific content on the home page. This is a 'nice touch' and makes it feel more personal to you.
For me, the most important thing about websites is speed, and this is a very slow website (on my computer anyway). Therefore, it's definetly not on my top 10 list. However, it may be one of those sites that is 'right up your street', so to speak.
very helpful
very helpful
very helpful
