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Regarded as one of the most difficult sections to achieve a good score in, we tend to be lenient depending on the nature of the nominated website, as some of the section subjects may not be applicable. However, e-commerce sites will be evaluated strictly according to the criteria listed below. 1. Value of Principle This point covers the aspects of basics or standards being set for your website and your ability to maintain those fixed or predetermined policies or modes of action. We will check to see if you have set standards for your site and whether your site shows the ability to maintain those standards by showing consistency of purpose and objectives. 2. Value of Representation Representation is just as important as principles. A well represented organization on the internet will without a doubt attract more attention to itself than a badly represented one. A variety of things will help your representation on the web... META tags, links, advertising, etc. Value of representation will be determined by checking your representation across the web, starting with the most popular search engines, and link popularity. 3. Value of Contribution Measures the level of effort contributed to a common endeavor, such as the internet, or to set principals or goals, such as charity or education. Questions you may want to ask yourself: How does your website contribute toward your intended goal, or in the community you have chosen? Does your website "give" rather than take? How does your site contribute to the Internet in providing a valuable resource or information? 4. Online User Support Facilities User support facilities employed to enhance your visitors understanding of specific services, content or navigation without needing to contact the webmaster. A good way of offering some sort of help or advice is by installing a Frequently Asked Questions page (FAQ), with questions previously being asked by your visitors, or questions you expect will be asked. Another way is to make good use of the "ALT" tags of images, or to make use of popup windows, which offer advice. Above all, your visitors should be able to contact you in case of difficulty. Ensure that your support line is easily accessible from your website. 5. Website Accomplishments In some countries, law requires that your website and/or company must guarantee your visitors privacy. A well written privacy policy will ensure your visitors that details collected by your website are safe and will not be distributed in any way. Additionally, secured sections of your website will be tested against unauthorized access. Use of a simple java script just does not guarantee your site will meet this rule; access is possible by editing the page online Minimum criteria is that the awards your site has earned must be of outstanding quality. While there are many sources for outstanding awards, one of the best examples is the listing of World Top Awards. 6. Influential Impact Does your website offer services that will take the world by storm? What impact will it have on your visitors? Will you be able to convince them to return? What did you do to convince them to return to your site? What makes your site a better place to be than the one of your competitors? 7. Security and Privacy Policy In some countries, law requires that your website and/or company must guarantee your visitors privacy. A well written privacy policy will ensure your visitors that details collected by your website are safe and will not be distributed in any way. Additionally, secured sections of your website will be tested against unauthorized access. Use of a simple java script just does not slice the cake, access is possible by editing the page online. Make sure your private areas remains private. 8. Web Site Statistics One way to determine your website's success is by knowing who your visitors are, where they come from, which browsers and resolutions they use and what keywords they use to find your site. Knowing all these little facts will help you to improve or plan a strategy to make your site work. A simple counter is just not enough, as it is unable to tell you who your visitors are (country), if they were able to see your site properly or who referred them to you. 9. Popularity of site / Web presence Popularity is measured by checking your website's online awareness and overall visibility. Using your "keywords" as search terms, we will check to see how well your site weighs up in listings, rank and rating in most popular search engines. We recommend using Marketleaps' Visibility Index to measure your sites' overall visibility on the Internet. 10. Pays Credit where Credit is Due Using anything (images, text, multimedia, coding etc) created by someone else is perfectly fine with us. But beware - you MUST pay credit to the original owner/creator/artist/author. This subject should not be confused with copyright violations, which means in short - stealing. Failure to pay credit where due will result in zero points for this subject, and using anything from other sites without the consent and/or permission of their legal owner/creator/artist will lead to immediate disqualification. No exceptions! 11. Quality of ASP or Dynamic created pages This subject will review the overall quality of "dynamic generated" web pages, such as ASP or PHP (ASP is founded by Microsoft, PHP is founded by Apache). Both are widely used general-purpose scripting / programming languages, suitable for the development of powerful web applications and services which can be embedded into HTML. 12. Contact Information The ability to communicate with your website is of the essence. It is absolutely important that you have set up ways which will ensure your visitors are able to contact your website with ease, and that alternative ways are provided in case your visitors can not use online forms. 13. Message delivery This subject will evaluate the manner of speaking, your site's ability to deliver messages to your visitors as intended. Is everything stated in a clear and professional, yet powerful way? Will we feel threatened, or will we feel comfortable while we read and view your site? 14. Alternative Entry Points, Hosting Efficiency Alternative Entry or Route Points should be provided for the event of a domain failure. In other words, a mirror site, cluster servers or a backup site are essential if you want to make a global impact, and to maintain a high availability level. 15. Branding Strategy Corporate brands have power. Real power. Measurable power. Power you cannot afford not to understand and tap. So much depends on what you do to market your product or services. Use of a site logo, a logo that will be remembered, is what will earn this point for your site. 16. Request and Grievance Administration Do you employ the means to help your visitors with complaints about your website or product? Once your visitor / customer files a request or complaint, will they know that you have received their request and will they know what to expect from you after you have received the request? How about turn around time? 17. Customer / Visitor Testimonies People often look for a reference before they commit themselves to buying a product or making use of web services. Many people are skeptical about transactions via the Internet. Testimonies from satisfied clients or customers, 3rd parties complimenting your website, website services or your products is another way to help prove your level of professionalism and commitment. 18. Effectiveness of Advertisement Advertisement is a powerful way to draw attention to your products or services. In order to succeed advertisement must be appealing, honest, able to capture attention without annoying your visitors or customers and must be placed strategically. This subject will be evaluated two ways:
19. Absence of Attention Clashes, Differences Attention clashes, on the other hand, distract (take away) attention from your topic by doing "something" incomprehensible or bizarre in your web design or presentation, or even in your content. Major differences in web design must be avoided. Keep all sections or parts of your website reasonably similar in layout. Slight color changes to characterize separate topics or sections are acceptable, but not mayor structural changes in layout or design. 20. Absence of unwanted instructions Unwanted instructions are elements that cause an action without any input from your visitors by using scripts, java, codes or other techniques. Popup pages, mouse cursors being changed, auto download software and auto redirect pages are among those most unwanted. We can disqualify websites for having more than one popup script, unless it is fully justified - meaning an event on your site that needs more attention than the rest of your site, or providing help. (We do NOT justify popup banners/pages from Free Host providers!) Evaluation Criteria Pages: Overview | Pre-evaluation | Section A | Section B | Section C | Section D | Section E | Self Evaluation Tips
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