|
| Year
2003 |
How to evaluate a Business Website -
Part II :
12 Questions to ask on currency, accuracy and objectivity |
Unlike print publications, it is difficult
to determine the currency of a web page. Websites
are notorious for dishing out outdated information
and one should look out for currency and accuracy
of coverage.
The questions
to be asked for determining currency are:
-
Are there dates on the page to indicate
when the page was created or when it was last
revised ?
-
Is there any guide or information
material to indicate how the information is kept
current ?
-
For financial information, is there
an indication it was filed with concerned regulatory
authority ?
-
For material from the company's annual
report, is the date of the report listed ?
Regarding accuracy, the pertinent
questions are:
-
Has the company provided a link to
outside sources such as product reviews or reports
which can be used to verify company claims ?
-
Has the sources of information clearly
displayed ? Can it be easily verified ? For example,
citing name of a newspaper as a source without
publication date is not enough as the same can
not be easily verified.
-
Is the information free of grammatical,
spelling, and typographical errors? Presence of
such silly and easily avoidable errors not only
reflect very poorly on quality consciousness of
an organization but can also lead to inaccurate
information.
Regarding objectivity,
pertinent questions are:
-
For any given piece of information,
is it clear what the company's motivation is for
providing it ? Is there enough contextual information
? It is easy to mislead someone by providing information
out of context - like Yudhisthir in Mahabharata
- telling Dronacharya 'Ashthama is dead' without
providing contextual information that 'Ashthama'
is actually an elephant not Dronacharya's son
- leading to death of Dronacharya.
-
If there is advertising material
in the page, can it be clearly differentiated
from the informational content ?
Regarding coverage - the questions
to be asked are:
-
Is there an indication that the page
is complete in itself and is not under construction
?
-
How elaborate is the description
of a product ? Does it include important information
like specifications, warranty etc. ?
-
Is there any 'frequently asked questions'
section or similar guide to help customers ?
|
|
| Happy and Productive
Surfing Dr.
Amit K Chatterjee
|
Related Links :
.. |
Author
: Dr.
Amit K. Chatterjee
(Amit worked in blue-chip Indian and MNCs
for 15 years in various capacities like
Research and Information Analysis, Market
Development, MIS, R&D Information Systems
etc. before starting his e-commerce venture
in 1997. The views expressed in this columns
are of his own. |
|
|
|
