SITE EVALUATION WORKSHEET Part 1

PRELIMINARY INFORMATION

Site name:

_____Washington DC Official Travel Info__________

URL:

_______Washignton.org_____________________

Purpose of evaluation:
Evaluated by:

_________Effectiveness and Usability_____________

____________John Marvin_______________

Date:

___________Sept 1, 2014___________________

Time:

___________9:30 am to 10:30 am______________

First Impression: [ 1 (poor) 5 (excellent) ]

________4________

Does the colors, layout, amount of text, colors, images appeal to you? Why or Why not?

The layout seems very effective to me. The page layout seems to flow very
well throughout the site and the colors, red and white, are very appealing to
the eye. The spacing is very nice, it doesnt clutter or leave wide open gaps
between items. Images portray a clean, happy sense to the user.

URL Assessment:

Is the URL logical (i.e., companyname.edu)? Does it include a recognizable name or is it

an abbreviation that might not be recognized by a visitor?
o

The URL is very simple and easy to remember. Washington.org is a perfect fit
for the District of Columbia travel site. One downside would be confusion with
the actual state of Washington.

If the company uses their company name for the URL, does their company name lend
itself to errors in typing companyname.edu?

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It does not lend itself to error very well. There are a lot of different
Washingtons that could come up in the search results.

Is the company name easy to remember? Does the URL contain dashes or underscores?
How easy is it for customers to recall or guess their URL based on the company name?
o

Given the high number of abbreviations for the District of Columbia area, I feel
that it would be hard to guess the site name on firsts try.

Have other relevant URLs been reserved? Dotster.com finds and suggests unregistered
domain names (search for availability of a domain, then select Alternate Domains).
The names it shows as being registered are worth following to determine if they are a
competitor to your business.
o

There are many similar URLs that have been reserved or willing to sell for a
premium. All sites with just the word Washington have been taken.

Utilize http://moonsy.com/domain_age/ to identify the following:

o

My site name did not bring up any results.

Age of Domain

Domain registered date

Domain expiration date

Utilize http://moonsy.com/pagerank_checker/ to identify:

o

True page rank (8/10)

Utilize http://moonsy.com/backlinks_checker/ to identify backlinks. Backlinks are an

indicator of link popularity and are utilized as part of the search engine algorithm
determining search engine results.

Number of back links to the site (external links from other websites)

There are 59530 back links or external links to this site.

Utilize http://www.dmoz.org/ to identify if the site and its primary entry pages have
been submitted to the Open Source Directory (DMOZ.org). Although this is not essential
some search engines utilize the list in their algorithm to result in the search results.
o

(0)

Searchability Search Engine Placement:

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Search for a general term first (i.e., an emphasis area, then try parks, recreation, tourism
curriculum) and then specifically, using the exact name of the agency. Search using two
different search engines (Identify the 2nd search engine).
How does the agencys URL rank in?

Google

Bing

Using an Emphasis Area term

District of Columbia__3_

____3________

Using a Generic Term

Washignton Career__3__

____3 ____

Using a Specific term

DMV Jobs__3__

________3________

Please identify who was ranked first and second for each of the items above.

DC.gov

Dcbar.org

Keyword Position Checker at http://moonsy.com/google-keyword-rank-checker/ enable you

to check keyword position in Google ranking, enter your keyword and domain name then
compare with the site listed before and after your site selected for this assignment. Compare
the PRT Department using the same keyword and entering the competitor domain.
Keyword: washington
My domain: washington.org
Competitor domain: _____www.mountwashington.org/&source=s_________
Navigation Pretest
What type of navigation is provided on this page? (i.e. horizontal across top, bottom or vertical
on left, right or combination)

Horizontal Across Top

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First inspect the navigation items before you actually click on the item.
Number of navigation links:

______________3___________________

Then click on each link to verify that they

Link to the correct page
Accuracy:

______________Fairly Accurate______________________________

Comments:

__________I like how they dont redirect you to an outside

source.____________________

Identity/Brand Pretest
Based solely on information presented, identify site owner and describe general type of site:
______________________________Alliance Signature Partners, it seems to be a very user
friendly site with a company that focuses on travel sites.
________________________________________________________

Purpose Pretest
Based upon quick inspection, identify the basic points of the site. What basic functions would it
likely provide?
______________________________The basic points provided would be the sports teams, the
national zoo, and the history that the city provides, It focuses on the main tourism atractions
and popular places.______________________________
_______________________________________________________

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Target Audience Pretest

Insert the Reading Level Results table that is generated when you calculate the readability via
the juicy Studio Readability web site: (http://juicystudio.com/services/readability.php#readintro
)
Interpret the results for the Gunning Fog Index, Flesch Reading Ease, and Flesch-Kincaid grade
level.

Average Syllables per

1.80

Word

Gunning Fog Index

10.78

Flesch Reading Ease

51.24

Flesch-Kincaid Grade

6.92

Fog Index

Resources

TV guides, The Bible, Mark Twain

Reader's Digest

8 - 10

Most popular novels

10

Time, Newsweek

11

Wall Street Journal

14

The Times, The Guardian

15 - 20

Academic papers

Over 20

Only government sites can get away with this, because

you can't ignore them.

Over 30

The government is covering something up

Are there any foreign language pages or opportunities to translate a page into a foreign
language?

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__ Yes
_x_ No
If Yes, which languages are provided? Please note if the language pages are PDF type
brochures/publications or are they web pages with interactive links? Please provide the URL for
any pages in a foreign language:
English, Spanish, German, Portugese, French, Chinese, Korean, Japanese

Are there links to the following social media providers? If yes, please copy their URL for their
page for each item. YES
__Blog
__ Facebook :
https://www.facebook.com/login.php?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsharer%2
Fsharer.php%3Fu%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fshar.es%252F11GpdH%26t%3DDC%25E2%2580%
2599s%2BLatest%2BTravel%2BVideos%2B&display=popup
__ Instagram:
__Twitter:
https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=DC%E2%80%99s%20Latest%20Travel%20Videos%20&so
urce=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=sharethis&url=http://shar.es/11GpUJ
__Other, please specify: google plus
https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=oz&passive=1209600&continue=https://plus
.google.com/share?url%3Dhttp://washington.org/article/dcs-latest-travelvideos%2523sthash.R9rE4M1I.hpvt%26hl%3DenUS%26gpsrc%3Dframeless&btmpl=popup&hl=en-US

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