Format
This is the format in which your review will be done. This sample also gives you a few reasons as to why the feature is important and what you can do to make sure I am impressed.
Reviewing Clem’s site, Oh Clementine, in Firefox on Mac OS X Panther.
First Impressions
It’s important to make a good impression on the people who come to your website. This is usually done with the design, but sometimes with the welcoming blurb (if applicable) as well. If your layout is boring, too bright, or animated, this usually means that your average visitor won’t want to explore your site. Similarly, if your welcoming paragraph is written with bad grammar or is otherwise offputting, the first impression will not be a good one. First impressions are important because, if your visitor is not impressed, they’ll leave your site without looking at what it has to offer.
If you have an enter page, I will take it and the home page itself into consideration.
Enter
Most enter pages are useless wastes of space and bandwidth. If you have one, make sure it’s not full of random graphics, links to other sites, tagboards, etc. It shouldn’t be too bare, either—an enter sign on a white background simply will not suffice. Enter pages are usually used to warn people of adult content, the fact that their site does not work in certain browsers (although you really should try to make it accessible in every browser), or the fact that the website uses Javascript.
Layout
Your layout is very important; it could make or break your website. If your visitors don’t like your layout because it’s boring, the colours hurt their eyes, it’s animated, it’s too skinny, etc., they won’t stay long, and they definitely won’t come back. Make sure it’s compatible with Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer at the very least so that it’s accessible to a large variety of people. You can use the excellent service at browsershots.org to see how your website looks in a variety of browsers and screen resolutions.
Content
Your score will mainly be based on your content, as it’s very important to your website. If it’s bad, no one will come back. You can include such things as original pieces you’ve written yourself, high-quality non-celebrity graphics made by you, and an interesting, funny, and informative About page. Also make sure that your website is using proper English. This will make it easily accessible, and you’ll have more people coming back. Things to avoid include but are not limited to: “reads”, Kabalarians, surveys you’ve copied and pasted off of Facebook/Myspace/Bebo, and celebrity icons.
Main Content Page
Subpage—Blah blah blah feedback on this page.
Summary
In this space, I’ll tell you my overall opinion of your website in a paragraph or two. It will include if I thought your website was good, bad, okay, etc., and I’ll also write what I thought was good and some points you need to improve on. I will give you some suggestions, such as, “Your writing had potential, so if you added a section of your own original writing, your site would surely benefit.” I’ll also give you a rating out of five stars. (I will give out half stars if at my own discretion.)
This means your site has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to offer. The layout is awful, it has no content to speak of, and even your blog entries show no potential in the way of writing and basic English language. What is this site even doing on the internet?
Your website has a lot of improving to do. Pretty much everything needs help. I didn’t find anything at all that made me hopeful in any area of your website, and the only reason you didn’t get a 0 is because at least you’re making an effort by putting up content. If you want a better score in the future, you will need to change pretty much everything so that the site you’re left with at the end of the road has nothing in common with the one you have now.
Well, there was something here that I liked. However, there wasn’t much. Some aspect of your content showed some potential along the way, but for the most part, there are tons of things that need changing—fast. There are lots of things you could improve on, outlined in the review. You will most likely get this score if your site does not stand out to me.
Your website is fairly average. It’s not fabulous, but it’s not horrible either. You’re a competent webowner, but there are quite a few things you could improve on in every area of your review. With a bit of hard work, you will have a shining star in the world wide web.
Your website is very strong. There were just a few small things that you need to improve on, such as a few too many filler pages or a lack of consistency when it came to your grammar. Your website is well above average, so you should take pride in it! (But don’t forget to fix up the minor things I outlined in your review.)
The things you need to improve on are non-existent or minor. You have design skills, original content, and proper English. You impressed me in a major way, and I found almost no flaws in all of my hours of reviewing. Your website is one that I’ll definitely revisit!