Every reviewer has different reasons to write a website review. Some write it to get paid, while other write to get more traffic; yet another group of writers write it to get writing assignments. Bloggers also get paid for writing website reviews (paid review). Whatever your motivation is for writing a website review, there are certain principles that you need to follow, which you will know if you stick to this post till the end.
Elements of a website review
Introduction
A brief introduction about the purpose of the website you are going to review is very critical. In the introduction write in brief what the website is about, and give a brief history of the company and what it does. You can also mention in brief your opinion about the website.
Design
Design is the first thing anyone notice when he comes to a website. Analyze the following layout of the content and try to answer the following questions.
- Is it too cluttered? Or is it clutter-free?
- Does the color-scheme of the website good for the niche it operates in?
- Is it appealing?
- Is it easy to find information on the website?
- Is the design SEO-friendly?
Navigation
Navigation plays an important role in the whole website. Try to answer the following question in your review.
- Is the navigation intuitive?
- How many clicks does it require before you can reach the desired page?
- Are all page connected to the home page?
- Is the website using flash, Java-script or any other scripting for the navigation?
- How flat is the navigation? Or is it too-much layered?
- Are there any broken link?
- On which side of the website is the navigation?
- Does the website have an HTML and an XML site map?
- Is the navigation SEO-friendly?
Focus element
Focus element of the website is the core of the website, for which the website has been built. It’s the intent of the website is clear.
- Is the intent of the website clear?
- Does the focus element of the website express the objective?
- How quickly can a visitor tell what the website is about?
- What’s the website trying to accomplish?
Content
Content of a website is its lifeline. The quality of content will determine how long visitors stay on the website? The quality of the website’s content will determine if a visitor will return or not, and whether he will make a purchase or not.
- Is the content relevant to the website? Does it serve the purpose of the website?
- Is it well-written?
- Does it make sense?
- Does it contain grammatical, punctuation, or structural errors?
- Is the content professionally written?
- Is it SEO-friendly?
This is the basics of writing a website review. In case you need to go into more complex details when writing a website review then I will suggest you to wait till the next article comes along. Until then practice writing basic review using the elements suggested above.
Tags: Brief History, Color Scheme, Different Reasons, Element, Elements, Flash Java, Friendly Focus, Information Design, Java Script, Motivation, Niche, Objective, Scripting, Site Map, traffic, Using Flash, Website Design, Website Express, Website Navigation, Writing Assignments
When a person comes to your website, what does he notices first? The quality of your content or is it the design that retains the visitors?
Well, the first thing that gets noticed is the design. People come to your website, and decide to read or leave your website on the basis of how it looks. Not on the basis of how it reads. No matter how informative your website is, or how well researched your content is, your website is not going to witness visitors, unless you have a well-designed website. If you want your website to be read, make sure that it doesn’t look visually cluttered. There are 3 elements that you need to keep in mind while designing your website.
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Clutter-free layout: Content is the king. No one is contesting this fact, but no one will care, if a king is draped in rags. Hence, a visually appealing website is a must. A visually heavy and informative website will have the same effect on the visitors as will have a non-informative website. In either case, the users are not going to stay on the website.
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Flat Navigation: Navigation of your website, as the name suggest, is the doorway through which one person travel between different pages. If you have not planned a proper link structure then your visitors will have hard time in going from one place to another. And the more difficulty they face, the quicker they will be out of the website. Navigation also helps search bots in crawling through the pages; therefore, you should avoid using JavaScript or other opaque elements in your navigation link.
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Awe-inspiring Over-the-fold elements: use over-the-fold space of your website to garner visitors’ interest by seeding website content that excites the visitors. Do not waste this space by explaining everything. Rather, use it to pull the visitors to the inside pages. You can use it as teaser, but be very judicious in using this space. You can also put your highest-paying ads in this space.
Along with these, there are quite a few more things that affect the quality perception of the website. Can you suggest some? Use the comment box below to add your view.
Tags: Awe, Clutter, Doorway, Elements Of Web Design, Free Layout, Hard Time, Informative Website, Link Structure, Navigation Link, Rags, Search Bots, Website Content, Website Navigation
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