Ashley Mieses
According to Brian
Clark’s “How to Create Compelling Content that Ranks Well in Research Engines” (http://scribeseo.com/downloads/How-to-Create-Compelling-Content.pdf)
and Deanna Zandt's "Claremont
McKenna College: How You Will Change the World with Social Networking”
(http://www.deannazandt.com/presentations/claremont-mckenna-college-how-you-will-change-the-world-with-social-networking/),
There are many specific characteristics and aspects that structure, what one
may consider, a “good” search engine website/social website. While Clark’s
article is more on the structural dynamics and physical display of the website,
majority of Zandt’s article takes on a more personal approach, in terms of the
emotions and personal feelings/connections that may evoke out of websites,
especially social networks.
Brian Clark emphasizes
how essential keywords are to a search engine and how important it is to
maintain a user friendly designed interface. Clark states in his article, “If
your content isn’t good enough to attract good, natural links, it doesn’t
matter how “optimized” that content is.” The content presented could contain the
upmost resourceful information, yet, if the way the content is displayed is not
user friendly and/or causes difficulty acquiring, then that’s an automatic “loss
of cool points” for that website and its content. According to Clark, there are
five major elements that factor into becoming a consumers favorable preference
in search engines. These five elements are essentially a guide when using
search engines to ensure more efficient results. They consist of; Research
tools, Getting specific, Strength in numbers, How Relevant, and Developing a
Content Resource.
Some examples of “good”
websites would definitely have to be Google.com and Twitter.com. Google provides a
very user friendly interface. There are not many external links on Google’s
homepage in comparison to Yahoo.com. Too
many links can lure the internet use away from their initial reasoning for directing
themselves to that search engine. Although Google is very plain, it’s simple
and easy to use. You simply type in what you are searching for and you are then
directed to a content landing page in which all your results to your inquiry
are displayed in a very easy to read manner. Yahoo however is disorganized and cluttered
with too much distracting content. Personally, I also find that Google displays
far better search results than Yahoo. Twitter is also a very simple and easy to
use website. Everything is laid out for you. You have your text box, your
character limit, your list of followers, trending topics, etc. Everything is
specifically labeled for any user. It is quick and easy to use as well as adapt
to when specific changes may occur. I find that it is easier for me to adapt to
the changes Twitter makes as opposed to the changes Facebook.com makes. Facebook’s
interface, like Yahoo is too cluttered. There are many false advertisements on
the side as well, making it more likely that you might accidently click one and
cause your computer to obtain a virus or even have your own Facebook account
hacked.
Some examples of “bad”
websites to me are surprisingly, Blogger.com
as well as WorldStarHipHop.com. Blogger tends to be a very confusing website.
There are too many options and links. The blog also can be not so easy on the
eyes depending on the owner of that specific blog you join. The blog fails to
show you how to utilize their website for first time users, causing automatic
confusion, especially for users who do not use blogs on a daily basis. I also
find that Blogger does not represent a professional feel to it, which may turn
users away from using these blog for other purposes and not just for personal
use. World Star Hip Hop is a very entertaining website to some, but the layout
and trying to figure out how to navigate around the website is NOT so
entertaining. The website has no organization whatsoever. You will find plenty
of entertaining videos… for 29839208 pages. There are so many pages because the
videos fail to be organized completely. You will find that the further you go
through the pages, the further back in time you are going. World Star also
contains many ads that can cause potential harm to your computer. The website
also displays a poor design to me. It seems like it was a rushed publication
serving only for entertainment purposes and failed to realize that their
display did matter just a LITTLE bit.
As internet consumers,
we view websites without consciously analyzing the layout or dynamics of the
website. Personally, I believe that it isn’t only the website’s content that
makes it appear “good” or “bad”, but that it also involves the user’s opinion
and past experiences. What may seem like a simple website to maneuver to teens,
such as Social websites like Facebook and Twitter, may be the most difficult
website for their parents or elder guardians to have ever come across.
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