elixablog

Fitness for Purpose

Does the website suit its target market and deliver its message in an engaging and appropriate fashion?
Is it relevant, fulfilling / achieving its purpose / objectives?
How do you measure success?
Does it meet identifiable goals?

Design

Is the website aesthetically pleasing?
Does it create meaningful visual interest?
Is it visually suitable for its purpose?
Is the colour choice appropriate for the target market?
Is the website designed to appeal to the target market?
Does the visual design represent the image /persona of the business or agency?
Is the branding of the business or agency consistent?
Does the website use consistent elements and appropriate graphics and images?

Typography:

* Does the website make use of ‘white space'?
* Are the size and style of fonts appropriate?
* General Layout of the page and alignment use visual design techniques to appear uncluttered.

Content

* Is the content written in clear and simple terms.
* Is the amount of content on each page appropriate? This means the content not being too wordy.
* Is the language and tone of the wording natural and familiar to the website's target market?
* Is the content informative?
* Are keywords and key phrases used in a balanced way throughout the content?
* Is there limited use of unnecessary jargon and acronyms?
* Are appropriate policies included eg Customer Satisfaction Guarantee, Returns, Security, Privacy, Copyright easy to understand?

Information Architecture

* Is the content structured to help target market find information easily?
* Is the content mark-up appropriately? (This is not the code but headings, paragraphs etc)
* Are headings obvious and descriptive?
* Does the website have clear, predictable navigation with uncomplicated structure?
* Are internal links managed well? Is there a site map or search facilities where appropriate?
* Are the menu groupings logical and easy to follow?

Development

* Does the website use any technologies other than HTML & CSS in the site. Technologies include databases, shopping carts, forms, payment processes, calculators, search processes, news and mailing lists.
* Do the website technologies achieve the functionality requirements?
* Are the technologies simple, logical and easy to use?
* Do the various parts of the website download in an adequate time frame?
* Do the Title and Description meta-tags have adequate keywords?
* Is the website optimised appropriately for search engines?
* Innovation

* How innovative is the system or technologies?
* Does the system or technologies use technique/s in new and exciting ways?
* Will the system or technologies have a big impact on the target audience

Uniqueness

o How unique is the system or technologies? This can be based on the the uniqueness of the idea, User Interface or implementation

Marketability

o How difficult will it be to sell the system or technologies to the target audience?
* Online Security criteria for Retail category and for websites providing user registration/login facilities.
o Certificate type - What is the level of certificate installed on the site
* Customisation
o is the site a built from the ground up implementation?
o is the site an out of the box implementation?
o is the site a customisation of an existing online store environment?
* Selling Functionality
o Is the shopping catalogue easy to browse or search?
o Are you able to register for product updates?
* Shopping Cart Flow
o Is it easy to add another product to the cart?
o How easy is it to create an account for the website?
o Is the checkout process uncomplicated and easy to use?

Functionality

* Does the website technologies function as expected?
* Does the website display consistently in various, widely-used web browsers.
* Is the website free of spelling or grammar errors, broken links, out-of-date or obviously inaccurate content?
* Does the website display in mobile or small screen devices?
* Are links to and from external sources managed well?
* Are contact details provided for customer enquiries?

Credibility and Validity

* Does the website include a Privacy Policy (where required by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) www.privacy.gov.au)?
* Is security of customers personal and financial information assured?
* Can customers access their information submitted to the website?
* Does the website include a Customer Service Policy or information?
* For Online Businesses are ethical issues such as goods return or refunds addressed?
* Is the website free of inappropriate content?
* Does the website include contact names, addresses and phone numbers for the business?

Accessibility

* Does the website adhere to WCAG Priority One and Priority Two?
* Is the markup valid and semantic?
* Is there a separation of content, presentation and behaviour layering, making use of Cascading Style Sheets, and unobtrusive scripting?
* Is the website viewable in different browsers and different platforms?

What do you need for a website?

1) Register a domain name - e.g. www.elixa.com.au or www.joomla.org

Just google "domain name registration" and you will find a Registraar.
To register an Australian Business Domain (.com.au) should cost no more than about AU$50 for two years.
Sometimes you can get a free .com domain name with your hosting package.

elixa website design uses a company called "Cheap Domains" but there are many others to choose from

2) Website Hosting company to host your site.

Most good quality US companies charge around AU$120 for one year of hosting. Australian companies usually charge more for less or the same functionalities.
A good hosting company will have a control panel where you can login and set up your site and email.
We use Siteground.com but, again, there are many other similar companies.

3) Website

If you use a CMS like Joomla! you can just upload your desired Template which will give your site the look and feel you want.
Then it's just a matter of entering your text and images.
If you want additional functions - such as a photo gallery/slide show or a document manager, e-commerce shopping cart. Then you can get most of these free from Joomla! extensions - http://extensions.joomla.org

see these  joomla! extensions

Top Ten Joomla Extensions as voted by the Joomlashack Community

Votes

#1 Virtumart "the complete e-Commerce shopping cart solution for Joomla"

1794
#2 JoomlaPack "an open-source backup component"
1725

#3 JCE "An advanced, configurable WYSIWYG editor for Joomla"

1031

#4 Kunena "the next generation forum built for Joomla"

921

#5 Community Builder "extending Joomla to build communities"

654
#6 Jomsocial "create a thriving, unique and interactive Joomla! community... effortlessly!"
429
#7 sh404SEF "rewrites Joomla URL to a more user-friendly format"
384
#8 Phoca Photo Gallery "image gallery with slideshow"
289- TIE!
#8 JCal Pro "taking calendar management to the next level"
289- TIE!
#10 Docman "document management for Joomla"
283

 

And what about the next 10? Honorable mention:

Joomla Extension
Votes
230
229
229
216
209
207
200
200
198

SEO Basics

Search Engine Optimization explained:
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of publishing and marketing information that ranks well for valuable keywords in search engines like Google, Yahoo! Search, and Microsoft Live Search.

9 Main points

* Market Research
* Keyword Research
* Site Structure
* On Page Optimization
* Link Building
* Brand Building
* Viral Marketing
* Measuring Results
* Keeping up to date

Enquire Now