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This week the quarterly magazine from my health fund provider arrived in the mail, and while flicking through it I came across an article about people who use the web for researching, and in some cases self-diagnosing, health issues.
Part of this article was a section called Five Ways To Evaluate A Website. Reading through this bit I thought they highlighted some great points that could be applied to any website, so I thought I'd adapt them for the web in general and share them.
1. Who is providing the information?
Take note of who is providing the information on the website. Has the owner of the site written the content, or do they just get it from somewhere else. It's not always easy to tell but generally if they are pulling their information from another source it should be referenced.
2. Is the information clear?
Knowing what the purpose of a website is will help you judge the information it provides. Websites should have clearly written, laid out and informative content, and provide the information you are looking for, and not make you search for it.
3. Does the website promise too much?
If it seems to good to be true then it probably is. When you're looking around to purchase something or engage a business for their services watch out for warning signs that include promising the world. Check reviews, testimonials and references if you're not sure.
4. Is the information up to date?
This is something I have spoken about many times. It is important for a website to be kept up to date. How often have you been to a site where their last newsletter or blog entry was over 12 months ago? If their blog is old it brings into question the rest of their site and information.
5. Are the links of good quality?
Many sites include links to other sites. This is good for several reasons, but unless they are linking to other quality sites and relevant content they are not much use. Google also takes into account the quality of the sites that you link to, so just linking to a site for no reason could be detrimental to your search engine rankings.
So next time you're doing some research on the web keep these five points in the back of your mind. It's also a good exercise to review your site with the same points and see how you think it stands up.
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