My Webservations

Apr 30th, 2009 3:04 pm

Analyzing a website is sometimes a difficult task. Bad code and ugly designs are obvious and easy to detect. If you know your site suffers from one or both problems - please contact us immediately. Just like we need to clean up the environment, we need to clean up the internet and there is no better place to start than at your home (page).

Here are the other things I look at when analyzing websites:

Content - must have good content filled with relevant keywords, titles and meta data. This is by far the MOST important factor on a good website. The content also needs to be current.
Clean Code - the second most important aspect of a good website. 2009 web standards means the design, content, and behavior of the website are separated. This provides for an easy way to change the design without editing every page of the website. Likewise, it makes it easy to update content without fear of breaking the layout. Tables should be used for tabular data, not site structure. Websites should also have valid markup, which includes document type and encoding, ensuring that the website displays correctly on a variety of browsers. With clean code comes accessibility and usability, which I will discuss in future posts.
Good Looking with Good Navigation - the site should be visually appealing and easy to navigate. Large sites need a good site search that goes to appropriate pages easily.
Does the site give many opportunities for potential customers to contact you, buy from you or do what you want them to do? #5 will tell you that
What does Google Analytics say about usage, keywords, and who is coming to your site? This information is crucial. Add it to you site now and check it periodically to get the most out of the data it is collecting.

There are so many badly designed sites out on the internet. Here at Avallo we have extensive experience and know-how to create great-looking and functional sites. Our resources section includes links and downloads to help fix some of the problems mentioned above.

Just as you can fix a small leak on your pipes at home if needed, you may be able to fix small issues with your website yourself (bad links, better content), but make sure you hire a professional to fix the big problems. Most of the time, it is easier to replace the bad pipes than to try to repair something temporarily. Believe it or not, it is almost always cheaper to redo an entire website than to trudge through messy code and try to fix the holes.

So, take a moment, take a look at your website, and if you find any of the issues discussed above, contact the most cost effective web plumbers around - or at the very least - hire a professional!