The Art of Analyzing Websites

1. Is the author/organization knowledgeable on the topic? If not, the website is probably not useful for information because the author/organization may not know whether or not the information they are giving is true.

2. How accurate is the information that is presented? The facts should be verified and the sources should be listed so that we can check if the information they use is accurate.

5. What is the motive behind the page’s creation? Is it intended for educational purposes or to sell a product? If the website is intended for learning purposes it’s good for retrieving facts because it has researched and accurate facts.

7. Is the information clearly represented? Is it neat and organized? Are there mistakes in spelling and grammar? If it’s organized and you are able to understand it the website is most likely useable.

11. Is the information on the website relevant and does it stay on topic? If not it is probably not a good website because the author probably isn’t a professional or does not have a good background.

4. Is your website biased? The website should not be opinionated, it should only contain verified facts because it might be trying to convince you of false information or sell something.

8. Is the website easy to access? The page should be easy to access as in easy to get around to all the information you want. If not, the page is probably not updated often meaning you won’t have current information.

10. What is the site’s domain? If you want to get the best and most accurate information, you want to go to the sites with domains .gov and .us/.ca etc. .gov domains are federal government websites. .us/ca type websites are state government websites.

9. Does the website have the same facts as other websites? If other websites have the same information it is probably relevant.

12. Can you tell where the author is getting their information? Is the information cited? If not it’s probably not trustworthy because you don’t know whether the information is true or not.

6. Are the links on the website working and related to the topic? If the links don’t work or lead to a dead end the site is not reliable because you know that the author is not constantly checking his/ her work.

3. Is the information current? The information must be current so that you know that the author is doing their research and updating upon it.

By: Dianne PomegasandAarzu Miharia

The Art of Analyzing Websites