Yahoo! Maktoob launches revamped Helwa women’s portal at Gitex

Yahoo! Middle East today announced the launch of its fully revamped women’s portal, including Helwa, Under20 and Abraj, as well as redesigned Alfrasha and Arb3 forums, providing an easier browsing interface and new, more diverse content for users across all age groups.

The redesigned websites will all be accessible through the main Helwa homepage, www.helwa.maktoob.com, which gets the ‘new look’ treatment in-line with Yahoo! Maktoob’s promise to provide locally relevant content that is easily navigable. Helwa’s redesign will feature sections catering to readers from different age groups, countries and even gender, with a men’s interest section, a designated area for teenagers, a weddings section, and additional links to content covering beauty and health, cooking, celebrities and horoscopes. The portal will also incorporate a unique chat interface allowing users to interact with one another and discuss any of the website’s content.

Ahmed Nassef, vice president and managing director of Yahoo! Middle East explained: “Yahoo! Maktoob users from all walks of life can expect more streamlined content on all Yahoo!’s portals. The Helwa women’s channel has proven to be one our website’s most popular destinations for news, health and family tips, fashion and beauty reviews and much more. This is just the first step in what will be a fully refreshed and user-driven browsing experience across our product offerings in the future.”

So far in 2010, Yahoo! Maktoob has reached 7 million unique users per month in its women’s portal ranging between the ages of 20 to 29, with a majority of users hailing from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Morocco, in addition to other areas covering the MENA region.