This document provides an overview of key factors to consider when evaluating a website, including content, accessibility, usability, design, reliability, and performance. It discusses the importance of regularly updating and optimizing content for different audiences. Accessibility considerations include support for disabilities, a variety of devices and platforms. Usability involves predictable structures, expected behaviors and familiar language. Design should align with brand guidelines while integrating trends. Reliability requires optimizing speed, uptime, and goals like lead generation. The document aims to bring order to evaluating a complex website.

1. Evaluating Your Website
Presented by:
Alan Hathaway, President/Owner
Jenny Knuth, Creative Director
David Williams, Account Executive
"Social Media: Is It Worth It?" ACU panel

2. Current state of “the web”
– Engage customers
– Focus on goals
– Integrate
Evaluating Your Website

3. “I like...”
-vs-
“I know...”
Evaluating Your Website

4. Top 6 ways to evaluate
your website...
– Content
– Accessibility
– Usability
– Design
– Reliability
– Performance
Evaluating Your Website

5. Content
is king!
Evaluating Your Website: CONTENT

6. To keep your website relevant,
review content regularly.
– Remove outdated/obsolete information.
– Add new content as it becomes available.
– Prune existing content.
– Use headers, charts and other visual aids.
– Split content into multiple pages when practical.
Evaluating Your Website: CONTENT

7. When creating new content…
– Write for your audience(s).
– Prioritize most-accessed, most-needed content.
– Make regular updates as incentive for return visits.
– Don”t forget too proofread!
Evaluating Your Website: CONTENT

8. Evaluating Your Website: CONTENT

9. Content creation tools:
– ‘Skim (don’t read) these tips for writing for the web’
www.brownboots.com/blog
– The Yahoo! Style Guide
– Google AdWords
Evaluating Your Website: CONTENT

10. Managing content resources:
– Content management system (CMS)
– Blogging = WordPress
Evaluating Your Website: CONTENT

11. Accessibility
Content ... check! Now make sure your audience can access it.
Evaluating Your Website: ACCESSIBILITY

12. Account for users of all
abilities and disabilities.
Evaluating Your Website: ACCESSIBILITY

13. Tips for making a website more
accessible for disabled users:
– Add alt tags and captions to images.
– Make sure text isn’t too small.
– Provide transcripts of audio files.
– Keep questions/criteria close to form input fields.
– Allow users to turn off time limits.
– Display “contact us” info on every page.
Evaluating Your Website: ACCESSIBILITY

14. Account for wide variety of
hardware and software.
– Avoid programs that are incompatible
with popular platforms (e.g., Flash).
– If a universally compatible format
is out there, use it (e.g., YouTube).
– In general, make content as easy to access
as possible (e.g., body copy vs. PDF).
Evaluating Your Website: ACCESSIBILITY

15. Account for wide variety of
devices out there, especially
mobile.
– Smart phones already outsell PCs;
53% of American cell phone users
have smart phones.
Evaluating Your Website: ACCESSIBILITY

16. Accessibility + Mobile
– Evaluate your mobile needs:
• Check site traffic/analytics.
• Put yourself in a mobile user’s shoes.
– Implement a mobile strategy:
• Prioritize what people want/need on the go.
• Streamline content (microsite vs. responsive
design).
Evaluating Your Website: ACCESSIBILITY

17. What about tablets?
Evaluating Your Website: ACCESSIBILITY

18. Accessibility resources:
– Human accessibility:
W3C’s Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines
www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools
– Device accessibility:
www.gomez.com
www.mobilexweb.com
Evaluating Your Website: ACCESSIBILITY

19. Usability
Making sure it works well and that the average person can use it.
Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

20. Components of usability:
Predictable structure
20
Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

21. Components of usability:
Expected behaviors /
responses to user actions
Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

22. Components of usability:
Familiar & appropriate
language
22
Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

23. Components of usability:
Consistent appearance
23
Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

24. How do you do this...?
Sitemap
24
Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

25. How do you do this...?
Wireframes
Wireframe Tools:
• OmniGraffle
•http://iphonemockup.lkmc.ch/
25
Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

26. How do you do this...?
User testing
26
Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

27. Why care...?
+ your competitors
are only 1 click away!
27
Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

28. Usability resources
www.clicktale.com
www.uxbooth.com
www.usabilityfirst.com
www.useit.com
28
Evaluating Your Website: USABILITY

29. Design
“Little things make big things happen.”
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

30. Objective criteria:
Design that supports brand
styles and guidelines
30
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

31. Objective criteria:
Strong design aesthetics
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

32. Objective criteria:
Connect the dots
• Take wireframes to the next level
• Use moodboards as necessary
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

33. Objective criteria:
Smart integration
of trends
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

34. Top trends:
Mega dropdowns
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

35. Top trends:
Mega footers
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

36. Top trends:
Infographics!
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

37. Top trends:
Illustrative websites
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

38. Top trends:
BIG background images
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

39. Design resources
Above the Fold - http://iampaddy.com/lifebelow600/
www.smashingmagazine.com
Creattica - www.faveup.com
Evaluating Your Website: DESIGN

40. Reliability
Evaluating Your Website: RELIABILITY

41. Speed - Desktop
Percent below 256 kbps: 4.4 percent in
Washington DC
1995 - 14kb
2012 - 980kb
http://tools.pingdom.com
Evaluating Your Website: RELIABILITY

42. Speed - Mobile
Dial it back a decade. The
smaller the better for mobile
landing pages.
How fast is your phone?
http://www.mobilespeedtest.com
Evaluating Your Website: RELIABILITY

43. Uptime
At some point your website will go down!
90% 36.5 days
95% 18.25 days
99% 3.65 days
99.8% 17.52 hours
http://www.monitis.com
Evaluating Your Website: RELIABILITY

44. Performance
Evaluating Your Website: PERFORMANCE

45. Goals!
Evaluating Your Website: RELIABILITY

46. #1 Goal - Lead Generation
Starts and ends with SEO
Keyword selection (Google Keyword Tool)
Keyword usage (blog!)
Inbound links
Evaluating Your Website: RELIABILITY

47. Bringing
Order to
the Chaos
Evaluating Your Website

48. - or -
Evaluating Your Website

49. Thanks for listening!
Any questions?
Evaluating Your Website