The best way to learn good practice in making and maintaining websites is to learn from others. No website is perfect and simply copying something which you like the look of will land you a lawsuit for intellectual copyright infringement – but you would be mad not to take inspiration and learn from others’ mistakes. Casting a critical eye over other websites trains you to design better and produce better content. There are at least three good reasons to review the next website you visit.
1. You will pay more attention to it
If you remember giving book reviews in English lessons at school, you will know that giving a review forces you to read the book more closely. What are the main points? Why did the author choose to write in that style? What were the weak aspects of the plot or argument? Who would enjoy this book and why?
This is even more true for websites. As a rule we spend most of our time on the Internet visiting the same sites (our favourite blogs, Facebook, news sites). It pays to ask why. What features do you take for granted, or what annoyances do you settle for? Reviewing websites helps you to think beyond the pixels and learn good practice.
2. You will see what works
It is fairly easy to make a good website, but it is very hard to make an excellent one. Businesses and other organisations constantly spend big budgets making improvements to their websites. Small organisations and individual bloggers gain huge digital profiles if their content is consistently good. Reviewing websites helps you to notice the things you might otherwise take for granted.
- Is the content good? Is it engaging? Is it easy to read? Is it relevant? Is it presented in a visually interesting way?
- Is the layout intuitive? Can you find your way around easily?
- Is the typography good? Is the text big enough? Is it obvious when you can click on something?
3. You will see what does not work
Equally as useful is reviewing the negative aspects of a website. This process helps you to learn what not to do on your wesbite.
- Is the content dry, boring, badly written, too long, too difficult to digest? When you write, write better.
- Is the layout confusing? Make sure your navigation and page hierarchy is blindingly obvious; make it easy to find things in the places people will expect to find them.
- Is the text too small, densely packed, and a similar colour to the background? Keep your text big enough to read comfortably from a normal distance.
Review your own website
Once you have conducted a few reviews, you will get a feel for what works and what does not. It is then time to get your own website in the spotlight. If at all possible, get others to review your website for you – but it always helps to review your own work, too.
Most bloggers spend far more time in the back-end than actually browsing their blogs, so it pays to spend a good few minutes navigating it like a ‘normal’ user. Ask the critical questions and write an honest review of your site. When you are done, plan to make the improvements you would like to see. Repeat the process every few months, implementing changes as appropriate. Your website can only improve as a result.
