Does Your Website Look Credible?
I found this list on eHow and thought that it would serve as a good guideline when evaluating ones own Web site for credibility.
How to Determine Website Credibility
- Look at the URL address of the website. The URL address starts with http://. Addresses ending in .gov, .us and .(STATE ABBREVIATION) are reliable. All other endings will require more investigation to know if they are credible or not.
- URL address that contain tildes (~) usually mean that an individual published the site. Individual publishers unaffiliated with a credible corporation can have their own agendas. These sites may not have the most credible information.
- Check the publishing date. Obviously, Internet pages that have been published more recently are more credible.
- Figure out the site’s purpose. Sites that are selling you something or asking you to sign up for something may not be present you with neutral, unbiased information.
- Check out the contact information and resources. Credible websites should list contact information and resources.
- Decide if the article is describing facts or the author’s opinions. Statements that start with “I think” or “From my experience” aren’t as reliable as those that begin with “Experts recommend” or “Research proves.”
- Ask yourself whether or not the article has answered all of your questions after you have finished reading it. If the article still leaves you with questions, it may not be the most credible source.
Please share your experiences with validating a Website in the comment section below.
2 Comments
Chris Olstrom Says:
Regarding point #3 above, how do you rationalize increased credibility for newer content?
Newer information has had less opportunity to be evaluated and either confirmed or rejected as accurate.
The upside to new pages is that they may reflect the newest discoveries in a field, while older pages may not (which is I think what you were getting at).
The most credible would be those with citations from other (trusted) sources. That aside, an older article where the author has updated it to include new discoveries would also seem more credible than one published an hour ago.
Thoughts?
February 22nd, 2010 at 2:26 pmSpiderSavvy Says:
Good obervation, Chris. I certainly see your point.
Perhaps a best practices approach would be to reference the older article and annotate the older article to indicate that there is newer information available.
When I am looking for information about Web design I am contantly looking at the publish date because many topics that are just a few years old are already outdated. A ‘good’ news Web site would also apply in this situation.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:57 pmLeave Your Comment