Will takes web by storm

Pop Idol winner Will Young is expected to break UK records with sales of his double A-side single this week.

But the Top 40 is not the only chart in his sights.

Will's website is the second most visited of any UK artist and could soon knock Westlife off the top spot, according to web industry figures.

This may sound unsurprising in the wake of the Pop Idol phenomenon, but his website is incredibly hard to find via any of the major search engines.

I tried searching for "Will Young", "William Young" and "William Young Pop Idol" and all I found were a couple of academic links and a fan site for Prince William.

Having finally stumbled upon the website address, the man of the moment was in reach.

In keeping with the mean and moody image on the CD cover, the site has a stylish black and charcoal background, featuring a pensive-looking Young in the top right-hand corner.

This would be fine if it was only for the home page but every single section of the site has exactly the same background and picture.

I suspect this is due to hurried construction in the wake of Will's big win, but it is a shame as it sits at odds with his sunny disposition.

The designers may be trying to steer away from a purely teenage market and admittedly, it is preferable to the headache-inducing chirpy colours of some other pop sites.

But surely a little brightness to match Will's 60-watt smile (love it or hate it) would not have gone amiss.

As for the content, it is a bit patchy but admirable considering the lack of material available from the fledgling star.

Drama

The usual suspects are present, including news, music (just the two songs so far), a biography and an impressive "history" section for general Pop Idol fans including video clips from the series.

The site is easy to navigate and does not overload you with graphics and gimmicks.

There is no discography, shop, videos or chatroom as yet, although presumably these will follow as the singer builds up his repetoire.

In the meantime, fans will be pleased to see plenty of quotes from the youthful crooner including some interesting snippets of information.

The site says "William is currently in his first year at The Arts Educational school in Chiswick, doing a musical theatre course for 3 years".

Somehow, I can't see him finding the time to perform in the end of year production.

He is refreshingly excited about paying off his student debts and getting back to "normal" life, although I fear that may not be possible either.

Ultimately, this music website does not break the mould, but if Will can keep generating the hits (pun intended) it should stay the course.