Website Evaluation Form: Does Your Site Stink?

[Dale King]

When I surf the internet, I'm absolutely amazed at how many bad or poorly-designed websites there are on the world wide web. And there's really no excuse for it. Nowadays, you can build a halfway decent website for less than $100. Your website is the very first impression people have of your business. You should want to make it a good one. In that regard, I've created a website evaluation form for you to evaluate and grade your own website. The form is not designed to be a "be all end all" solution for building a website - merely a guide.

Grading Scores: A is excellent. B is good. C is average. D is poor. F is failing.





Technology:

- Does your site load fast or slow?

- Do your pages load fast or slow?

- Do your products load fast or slow?

Load grade:
___________

2. Appearance:


- Are you using CSS design (Cascading Style Sheets), as opposed to tables?

- Is the overall look of your site clean, professional and pleasing to the eye?

- If there's a logo, is it professionally designed?

- Are the site colors pleasing to the eye?

_ Are you using reverse type - white/light letters on a black/dark background? That's a no, no.

- Do the colors fit the overall theme of the site?

- If the site has ads, are they subtle or intrusive?

Appearance grade:

_________________


3. Content:

- Does your site have enough content?

- Is the content appropiate for your target audience?


- How scannable is your site's content?

- Is the information on your website clearly written and easy to understand?

- Does your website contain blatant grammar or spelling errors?

- Is The content of your website up-to-date?

- Is the font style and size of the text on website easy to read?

Content grade:

______________

4. Graphics:

If your site has graphics and/or photos, do they load fast or slow?

- Do graphics and/or photos appear clear and professional?

- Are graphics and/or photos consistent with the theme of the site?

Graphics grade:

_______________


5. Navigation:

- How easy is it to navigate your website?

- Are there any broken links?

- Does your site have a site map?

Navigation grade:

_________________


6. Organization:

- Is the Website Organized?

- Can visitors quickly and easily ascertain what your site is about?

- Does your site have a consistent theme or is it scattered?

Organization grade:

___________________


7. Usability.

- How easy is it to use site?

- Can users find the information they're looking for quickly and easily?

- Is information clearly laid out and easy to find?

- Are customer questions addressed on the site?

- Is contact information easily accessible?

- Does your site ask users to take some sort of action? Contact you? Request more information ? Sign-up for newsletter?

Usability grade:

________________


8. (SEO)Search Engine Optimization:

- Is your site dedicated or part of another website?

- Is your site search engine friendly?

- Is your source code properly written?

- Is each page properly optimized, including keywords and page titles?

- Does your site have a good search engine presence?

- Does your site have proper meta tags, title and description?

- Does your site have quality, relevant inbound links?

- Is the domain name appropiate and effective?

- Does your site have a real domain name, or does your domain include names like Homestead, Bravenet, Tripod or GeoCities?

SEO grade:

__________


9. (USP)Unique Selling Proposition:

- Is there anything that makes your website unique or special, when compared to your competitors?

- Does your site have strong recommendation or bookmarking value?

USP grade:

__________


10. Copywriting: Is the copy effective?

- Does your sales copy have a compelling headline?

- Is the opening paragraph strong?

- Are there real testimonials, as opposed "John S." in Anywhere, USA?

- Is there a strong guarantee?

- Is there a persuasive call to action?

- Is copy believable?

Copywriting grade:

__________________


Grading Scores: A is excellent. B is good. C is average. D is poor. F is failing.

[robert adams]