Making a website credible involves a lot of factors some of the major ones includes website design, content and organization of information within the website itself. Credible website plays an important role in the communication and success of the owners of the websites. Since the web is been bombarded with a lot of information on daily basis lately we have been seeing website displaying low quality, disorganized and misleading information. Credibility can be defined as the trustworthiness of the users or consumers. Credible information leads to loyal consumers and effective name branding on the web. Design can be considered as a big umbrella which cover all the aspect of look and feel of the website like layout, sequencing, navigation and
organization of information on the web pages. Recent studies have found that the most effective way to make the website credible is to include elements that highlight the brick-and-mortar nature of the organization it represents. Having easy to use and navigate website combined with precise and organized information about the organization helps the user to understand the organization in general and be able to trust what they are displaying or communication through their website. Design implication, content management and design must properly be address by the web designer or website manager and credible and authentic information must be displayed on each of the webpage of the site. Proper design, valid content and organized information help the user increase their understanding, credible website must be easy to use, customize to user’s experience, does not include overly commercial elements and all the information and content must properly be organized so user will be able to navigate and understand what they are looking at and what next steps needs to take while they are still on the site searching for information.
Information literacy is an important skill, and unfortunately one that many people lack. Recently, I evaluated the website www.DHMO.org. Although most of the information available on the website has merit, it was created as a hoax to bring light to the subject of information literacy in todays’ society. My evaluation of the website will prove that the website masks itself as a reputable source of information, but by researching the website itself, it becomes evident that it is in fact nothing more than a hoax.
Metzger, M. J. (2010). Making sense of credibility on the web: Models for evaluating online information and recommendations for future research. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(13), 2078-2091. doi:10.1002/asi.20672
There are five different criteria that should always be met when it comes to evaluating a website. These criteria’s include accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage (“Criteria Used in Evaluating Web Resources”, 2014). Accuracy is deciphering who is hosting the website, if the website has stated the purpose and audience, and if the information on the site is reliable. A good way to check if the information can be trusted is to compare the facts found on the website with other information and facts found from other internet or print sources. Authority is verifying that the author of the website is real, because if the author is real then the information can usually be trusted as well (“Criteria Used in Evaluating Web Resources”, 2014). To check the authority of a site, the page should be examined for information about the author, note if anyone else has contributed to the website, check for contact information, and see if the author has created other websites with factual information. It is a good sign if there is contact information for the author, because it means someone is taking credit for the information on the page (“Criteria Used in Evaluating Web Resources”, 2014). If someone is taking credit, there is a better chance that the information can be trusted because the author would not want a bad reputation and to be held accountable for sharing false information. The objectivity of a website is deciding if the website is trying to sway the reader’s opinion, and if it is biased. If the advertisements on the site are being supplied by the author of the site, then there is a good chance the page is biased. There should be no bias or opinion located on a site that is supposed to supply factual information (“Criter...
The internet is a great resource but this paper takes a critical look at the DHMO.org website, in particular, and looks at categories during this assessment that addresses specific critical tools in evaluating this web page specifically. Using primarily the web page evaluation checklist published by UC Berkeley1 and concurrently S.P.I.D.E.R.2 which is the acronym for Source, Purpose, Information, Domain, Educational, and Reliability. It takes you through how the web page evaluation checklist helped in discerning the authenticity of the web page.
applying the design principles in a traditional sense as we take a look how they are applied to the document as a whole.
The reason why Wikipedia is so unreliable there are several dimensions of information quality: accuracy, completeness, currency, comprehensibility, and so on (cf. Fox, Levitin & Redman, 1994). The information suggested that the Wikipedia fails on several of these dimensions. However, people that acquire knowledge from Wikipedia are not as comprehensible and complete as we might expect an encyclopedia to be. There are three reasons to think that significant amount of information on Wikipedia might be inaccurate, first, anyone can contribute to Wikipedia, and many of these contributors will not have much expertise in what they write about.
Now that we are living in an ever changing world, technology is viewed as the most resourceful tool in keeping up with the pace. Without the use of technology, communication would be limited to using mail for delivery and encyclopedias for research. Although technology has improved the way we communicate and find information for research, the information is not always valid. Unfortunately, for those of us who use the internet for shopping, research, or reading articles of personal interest the information is not treated the same as a your magazine or book. While such literature is reviewed by an editorial staff, internet literature or information can be published by anyone. In order to reap the full benefit of having the use of technology for any purpose, there are five basic criteria’s one must keep in mind as an evaluating tool for deciding whether or not the particular website is a reliable source for information.
For a website to be successful, you must have clear identified goals and compelling content that draws your audience to your site again and again. A good site requires a delicate balance between content, visual appeal and technology, but most of all content (Leonard-Wilkonson, n.d.). Knowledge of the market, product or service and business environment is also essential if you are going to improve business (Barnett & O'Rourke, 2006).
The website, https://www.thebump.com appears to be a fun but informative prenatal website. The main goal of The Bump is to “empower new parents and parents-to-be with expert content and advice, personalized advice, checklists and more.” Parenting is something that can be overwhelming, but The Bump focuses on making parents feel as if they are not alone. I know when I decide to have a child, I will want to read about every experience and piece of advice I may need. The Bump is useful for any person needing information on pregnancy. Overall, The Bump provides users with knowledge on fertility, pregnancy, birth, baby development, advice, newest baby trends and styles, news, and interactive tools. Expecting parents can find all the information they need through this website.
Next is in terms of the design and aesthetics. Layout that being used for this website is a plain white which easier people to read the text that is in black, in contrast and suitable for the concept of showroom online. The font is also suits which is not too big and not too small to be read by people. To highlight the main subject or the main product, the font is being bold to alert customers that they choose the right one. There is no audio available for this website or even a video. But somehow, as it was a home furnishing website, most of the pictures being used by the website is in JPEG format to deliver a clear view of the products to customers.
Credibility is not just another term that is defined, but it is a term shown through actions. The act of believability, trustworthiness, reliability and responsibility, are key components of credibleness (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). We recognized great leaders when “their actions aligned with their words” (Kouzes & Posner, 2012, p.37). The importance of knowledge, expertise and competency, are abilities that contribute to credibility (Kouzes & Posner, 2012).
Wikipedia’s popularity has become increasingly popular, and as the number one source to go to for information, the question of its accuracy and quality still raises doubts. Wikipedia, with its abundance of articles in more than 200 different languages, most people go to to Wikipedia because of its convenience and the sites wide variety of non- fiction topics (Ashman “Students Debate Value of Wikipedia as Reliable Source”). Also, Wikipedia gives tutorials to aid in the process of editing and the way the article should be structured, formatted, and the style of how it is written (Crovitz and Smoot 92). On the contrary, the accuracy and the amount of people who deliberately follow the guidelines can be questioned. Wikipedia is not an appropriate
Wikipedia is the popular online encyclopedia that is viewed by millions of people yearly. The site contains articles on just about every subject under the sun. Wikipedia editors like to invite contributors to edit or make a Wikipedia page. Certainly, Wikipedia attracts thousands of contributors yearly that like to edit a page. Recently, Wikipedia shared a list of the most Wikipedia edits on the site.
With the emerge of Academies and a vastly increasing choice of schools for parents, never before has marketing been so important! Now some schools tend to think of marketing as all spin and no substance, actually by developing a marketing strategy it forces you to become self aware and really examine your school’s core values. A school that has a strong marketing and PR strategy in place experiences a range of benefits, such as an increase in pupil intake, growing support from their local community, it will assist with recruitment and will also help the school in gaining higher achievements.
After visiting and examining the PBS Web site, I was able to conclude that it is an extremely successful entertainment and educational site. The Web site has won many substantial awards, including the prestigious "Webbie Award" in 1998 and 1999. According to a recent survey, fifty-six percent of users at the PBS Web site are male and sixty percent are between the ages of eighteen and forty-four. Forty-four percent of the Web site users have children and fifty-seven percent make online purchases. (Gallup/Plaw Release: Survey of 40,000 Internet Users. Fall 1998.)