By Dan Karwoski
Does your website make a good first impression? Is the navigation intuitive? Is
the content appropriate for your audience? You've had your website up and running
for a while now but you've always had a nagging suspicion that your website is
lacking effectiveness and you just can't put your finger on it. You've dabbled
with colors, added/removed images re-written the text but it still feels as if
everything just isn't working together. Wouldn't it be nice if you had a way to
sort things out? Well now you do!
Find out if your business website has power, energy and the right stuff to help
your business succeed. You'll be able to find out if the navigation; advertising,
optimization, imagery and look are combining to make your home page an effective
tool. Each section has a number of questions that help define, in detail, all the
important areas of a well designed website. Just run through the list starting at
the top. When you're finished just click the "Total Score" button at the bottom.
Just use the simple Q and A form here:
http://www.learn2design.net/login/secure/interface/eval.php to see if your
website meets established design standards. Using this checklist form you can
rate your website (or anyone's) to make sure you've got all the essentials
covered effectively.
Now the hard part; you have to answer the questions honestly and objectively! I
know, it's your baby; you've spent countless hours nursing it to stardom. But now
is the time to make an honest assessment. (Pretend its someone else's website if
that helps.)
The form should only take 5 to 10 minutes to complete and at the end there is a
brief description of what your score means and what you can do to improve your
site.
Dan Karwoski has been teaching website design to college students since 1997 and
has created quality work for MSNBC, Microsoft, Amazon, Atom Films and many
others. Interested students can learn the basics of web design by registering at
http://www.learn2design.net. Please email questions to info@learn2design.net.