#108 - 19232 Enterprise Way
Surrey, BC V3S 6J9
Tel: (604) 574-1283
Web: www.fortressweb.com
E-Mail: sales@fortressweb.com

Website Evaluation Report - www.samplecompany.com
March 14, 2001

Evaluation Sections
The following colour codes will be used to highlight areas of evaluation under each section:
  -Positive features
  -Possible problem areas
  -Serious problem areas



 
WEBSITE LOAD TIMES
Evaluates the speed at which your website comes up entirely at different connection speeds.
Connection Speed Loading Times
14.4K Modem 48.32 seconds
28.8K Modem 26.16 seconds
56K Modem 15.28 seconds
ISDN (128K) 8.99 seconds
T1 (1.44MB) 4.44 seconds
Website has a medium load time and should not cause a problem for most viewers. Some users on slower internet connections may find page loading slow, but this will account for a very small percentage of possible visitors.

Optimizing graphics on the website for file sizes may speed up loading times somewhat. Connecting to less external sources for things like images, banners, counters and other site additions can also greatly speed up loading times.

Server Connections on front page:
- www.safesolution.com
- counter.digits.com

Recommendations:
- Optimize image files for faster load times


 
OVERALL LAYOUT AND DESIGN
Evaluates the visual appeal and impact to visitors and points out problem areas.
 
Initial Impressions
Very poor initial impression. Website completely lacks impact and polish in layout and design and does not present a professional company. Inconsistancies in syle and design give the entire site a "home-made" look.

 
Text and content on first page
Text appears in multiple styles, colors, and postions on the first page alone. Use of only one or two fonts on a webpage is strongly recommended. Page headers and paragraph headers can be different sizes, but body text should remain the same. The website uses colours and styles that blend with the background in several cases, or are too small to read. This makes the site very difficult to follow and breaks up all natural flow of the information.
First page content is far to much. First pages should be limited to two or three short paragraphs and should serve and a welcome and introduction to the site. The primary content should be on additional pages and broken down logically.

 
Text and content on additional pages
Text problems continue on all pages throughout the site. Several pages have sections where there is a combination of bold, regular, italic, centered, and left justified text all on the same page.
Text flows too closely to page edges and table borders, making distinction between sections and ease of reading difficult. Proper use of blank space can help the viewer find information and read it quickly and easily.

 
Use of Graphics and Images
Photos and images on the website lack polish and refinement. Several contain uneven edges or borders within the image itself. Resolution and clarity is lacking on most images making them hard to view.
Use of a consistant image border on graphics and images would create a look that seemed to tie all elements of the website together. Images currently have a very "cut-and-paste" look and do not seem to flow well with the rest of the site content.

 
Menu and Navigation Style
Challenges come with the amount of website content that is present here. The use of a side menu is a good feature and can help visitors easily find their way around. In this case however, the side menus are not consistant throughout the site and lack clarity and visual appeal. Use of buttons or dividers between links can greatly improve the visual appeal. On the current menu, some links are bulleted, while others are not. The use of a Times Roman font at the small size makes the menu options harder to read.
Other links throughout the site do not follow and constant style. Some links are text, others are images of various kinds, and the link colors on text links can be blue, yellow, or black.
Menu should be broken down into key sections and have no more than 10-12 links on the first page. Clean buttons or crisper Arial text would clean up the navigation system nicely.

 
Special Effects
Website contains no special effects of other "eye-candy" that would make a lasting impression. While these can slow loading times, some impact would greatly help the overall impression of the site.

 
Counters / Banners / Guestbooks
Websites that use visible web counters immediately lose a lot of professional appeal. Visible counters are for hobby and family sites, and not for business and professional sites.

 
Music and Sound
Website contains no music or sound effects that would irritate a visitor.

 
Video
Website contains a short video demonstration of the use of the products. The ability to view the video in various formats and for different connection speeds shows understanding of visitor differences and presents a good range of options.

Recommendations:
- Complete re-design of entire website interface
- Use of clear buttons and menus
- Borders on images and better image quality
- Removal of counter on front page
- Use of Arial text and consistant sizes and styles

 
NAVIGATION AND STRUCTURE
Evaluates the effectiveness and ease of use for the navigation system and checks for dead links.
 
Menu System
Menu system is far to busy and difficult to follow. Limit the amount of links on the first page and break the site down into sub-sections. The number of sections would lend itself well to a dropdown menu system.
Most pages on the site contain a "back to top" link which is helpful for pages with large amounts of content. Links of this nature generally work better on the right side of the screen as opposed to the far left.

 

Dead Links
Dead links can detract from a website's impact more than almost anything else. The following dead links were identified on the site:

https://www.intergate.bc.ca/secure/www.samplecompany.com/dsif.html
Source: http://www.samplecompany.com/distrib.html

Recommendations:
- Use Buttons for naviagation
- Amount of content would lend itself well to a dropdown menu system to avoid screen clutter.
- Check links on site for problems.

 
INTERACTIVITY
Evaluates the use of tools and features that involve the visitor and encourage feedback and repeat visits

Website does not use and online forms for contact requests or general inquiries. The use of simple e-mail links only can create a problem for users who do not use a standard POP e-mail account. Online forms lead the visitor in providing the required information by the website owner and make contact quick and easy. The use of a form completion response page allows the vistor to receive confirmation that their message was sent.

Use of contests of feedback forms can also increase visitor involvement and provide usefull information. Guestbooks should be avoided at all costs as they are only for personal and hobby sites.

This website would benefit well from a message board where users of the product could post testimonials, questions, and comments. A moderated list would work best and avoid any content that is deemed inappropriate for publication online.

Recommendations:
- Add online contact forms for visitors.
- Message Board would be a good addition to content.

 
SITE TARGET AND PURPOSE EFFECTIVENESS
Evaluates the effectiveness of the site in meeting the goals for which it was made.

Website goals as defined by client:
Website is to inform new customers and distributors about the product and the business. Website should present the company in a professional maner and convince customers to purchase the product and distributors to sign up.

Evaluation:
While the website contains all the information required to accomplish both goals, the poor and confusing presentation of the information almost completely sabotages the purpose. Neither the company nor the products come across looking professional or trustworthy. While the Shell Busey connections lends credibility to the product itself, it does not counteract the poor layout damage.

Recommendations:
- Complete re-design of website and navigation system.

 
HTML PROGRAMMING
Evaluates the technical aspects of the programming code and looks for errors.

Website contains multiple small programming errors. 116 Errors were found on the first page alone! Most are due to lack of end tags for attributes or use of non-standard characters. While many of these errors do not prevent the page from loading, they will slow down the site and create unpredictable results for different browsers. Errors may also prevent search engines from rating and adding the website.

List of errors is too lengthy to publish as part of this report.

Recommendations:
- Complete re-design of website using proper HTML coding practices

 
BROWSER COMPATIBILITY
Evaluates the effectiveness of design and the appearance of the website on various web browsers

Website views consistantly on both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator browser versions 3 - 5. Some HTML tags are not supported by different browser versions. Those are indicated in the table below. Boxes in red highlight the tags that may cause errors or will be ignored by the browser versions indicated. Line numbers refer the the programming lines in the source code.

Program code errors on first page:

Tag

Attribute

Lines

Visitors Affected

Microsoft

Netscape

3

4

5

2

3

4

A

ALT

165, 168

99.00 %

N

N

N

N

N

N

FONT

VLINK

60

99.00 %

N

N

N

N

N

N

U

--

165, 168

1.00 %

Y

Y

Y

N

Y

Y


Recommendations:
- Change tags to ones supported by all browser versions. Visual display of website is not currently affected by errors.

 
SEARCH ENGINE READINESS (META PROGRAMMING)
Evaluates the effectiveness of the META programming and checks site for search engine submission readiness
 
TITLE Tag

Current Page Title:
<TITLE>Sample Company Treatment Services</TITLE>

This Tag is 38 characters in length including tabs, spaces and carriage returns
Status: This Tag may or may not contain enough characters or keywords to be descriptive enough to put your Web page on the top of the search engines. Our recommended maximum number of characters for this tag is 60.

 
DESCRIPTION Tag

Current Meta Description Tag:
<META NAME="Description" CONTENT="A chemical solution designed to create microscopic channels in the surfaces of ceramic tile, quarry tile, granite, and porcelain type/steel enamel bathtubs. IT IS NOT A PAINT NOR IS IT A COATING!! The active ingredient of THE SOLUTION® is non toxic, and when used as instructed, is not a hazardous product. When THE SOLUTION® is combined with the Neutralizer Solution, it becomes biodegradable.">

This Tag is 412 characters in length including tabs, spaces and carriage returns
Status: Warning! This Tag contains too many characters for what we would consider a "robot friendly" Web page. The maximum number of characters we recommend for this Tag is 150.

 

KEYWORDS Tag

Current Meta Keywords Tag:
<META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="non slip, non-slip, nonslip, non skid, non-skid, nonskid, no slip, no-slip, noslip, anti slip coatings, anti slip floor coatings, anti slip bathtub coatings, non slip coatings, non slip floor coatings, non slip bathtub coatings, no slip coatings, no slip floor coatings, no slip bathtub coatings, non skid coatings, non skid floor coatings, non skid bathtub coatings, non slip epoxy, janitorial supplies, cleaners, degreasers, cleaners degreasers, safety products, safe floors, slip fall prevention, slip fall liability, slip fall, slip-fall, slipfall, anti slip, anti-slip, antislip, slip resistant, slip-resistant, hospitals, seniors care facilities, health clubs & spas, nursing homes, medical offices, day cares, hotels, Inns, motels, laundromats, convenience stores, Universities, Banks, cruise ships & ferries, restaurants, fast-food chains, processing and industrial plants, gyms, swimming pool decks, shopping malls, department stores, private and public Schools, airports, bus terminals, dry cleaners, bowling alleys, country clubs, amusement parks, floor safety, safe ceramic tile, bathtub safety applications, accident prevention, safety training, no slip business opportunities, surefoot, sure foot, no slip floors, restaurant safety application, safety traction, accident preventing treatments, no skid, no fall, sure footed">

This Tag is 1337 characters in length including tabs, spaces and carriage returns
WARNING! THIS TAG MAY BE DISQUALIFIED!

REASON: We found the following keywords were repeated more than 3 times in the META Keywords Tag:

  • The word slip was repeated 19 times
  • The word coatings was repeated 12 times
  • The word non was repeated 9 times
  • The word no was repeated 8 times
  • The word safety was repeated 6 times
  • The word bathtub was repeated 5 times
  • The word floor was repeated 5 times
  • The word skid was repeated 5 times
  • The word anti was repeated 4 times
  • The word fall was repeated 4 times


Website META code has separated at least one of your keywords with a comma, but this does NOT mean all search engines will separate the keywords by the comma. With some search engines this may be considered "word spamming". Recommended maximum length should be 870 characters


Recommendations:
- Change keywords tag to remove repeated words and keep length to 870 characters or less.
- Shorten description tag.

 

SEARCH ENGINE POSITIONING
Evaluates the current website position in the major search engines.

Website does not appear in the top 50 results on any of the search engines based on your requested search words of:

  • Sample
  • Solution
  • Tile
  • Tub

Results:

  • Alta Vista: Not in top 50
  • Excite: Not in top 50
  • HotBot: Not in top 50
  • Google: Ranked 49th
  • Infoseek: Not in top 50
  • LookSmart: Not in top 50
  • Lycos: Ranked 27th
  • Magellan: Not in top 50
  • WebCrawler: Not in top 50
  • Yahoo!: Not in top 50

Recommendations:
- Adjust site META tags for better search engine acceptance.
- Re-submit site.


OVERALL RECOMMENDATIONS

While the website content is full and informative, the layout and design of the site is far below standard. The errors in programming and in search engine readiness prevent the site from being technically solid and effective for viewers and search engines. It is recommended to do a complete re-design of the site using the existing information and resources. Focus on ease of use and visual appeal and the site could have real impact and be a powerful business tool.

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