PERFORMANCEDIAGNOSTIC - WEBSITE INSPECTION Star Enterprise - www.starenterprise.com _________________________________________________________________________ Object: www.mycompany.tld Date of report creation: 1. January 2525 _________________________________________________________________________ [Website performance] URL examined: http://www.mycompany.tld Data being transferred: 295.3 KB (includes all page contents) Load time 1: 5.10 sec. at 768 KBit/s | 67.17 sec. at 56 KBit/s Load time 2: 4.75 sec. at 768 KBit/s | 62.56 sec. at 56 KBit/s Load time 3: 4.08 sec. at 768 KBit/s | 53.73 sec. at 56 KBit/s Average load time: 4.64 sec. at 768 KBit/s (DSL) 61.15 sec. at 56 KBit/s (Modem) Each call has been made from different networks (Europe, North America and Africa) to allow an objective rating of achieved performance. What you can improve: All access times are in an acceptable range. However it could be worth to reduce the size of some images to increase performance. [Technical compatibility] The HTML and XML code is well structured and optimized. But all embedded JavaScript parts misses documentation, which could make later planned modifications slightly difficult to handle. Using cookies to track visitor information may lead into erroneous behavior on browsers having cookie acceptance disabled. However a test drive with disabled cookies revealed no unexpected behavior. Index page uses a flash intro. It is advised to provide also a non-flash version allowing to go directly to the index page; especially to support users of smallband Internet access (by modem). The website was tested at the following browsers: 1. Browser1 version 1.10 2. Browser2 version 2.10 3. Browser3 version 3.10 Beside of unavoidable minor optical differences, no critical errors were detected that could prevent the website from being accessed with a specific browser platform. [Marketability - Meta information] URL examined: http://www.mycompany.tld 1. Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 2. Author: Joshua Smith 3. GENERATOR: A great webeditor version 10 4. Description: We are a computer store selling hardware and software. 5. KeyWords: companyname, product1, product2, service1, service2, free 6. Classification: "Retail computer store" What you can improve: Note to 2: This line can be removed, although some authors persists upon keeping their "signature". It will be ignored by most search engines. Note to 3: This line can be removed, since it contains no relevant information for promoting the website at search engines. Note to 4: Increasing the page description by pointing out company's specialties (e.g. exclusive reseller for named manufacturer) is helpful. Note to 5: * If selling particular brands, it could be worth to mention them here (e.g. customers searching for products from this manufacturer). * Remove keyword "free" - it's the most abused string at search engines. * Add more keywords, up to fifteen per page is acceptable. Note to 6: Very seldomly used meta tag; generally ignored. It was used earlier to classify a website within a category-based system (e.g. for search engines basing upon this technique). All meta tags necessary for marketing were found. By checking selected sub-pages, it was found that some of them even miss meta tags entirely (e.g. "about us" page and most parts of online shop). [Marketability - Domain name rating] The used domain is short and precise (company name). Therefore the domain is easy to remember and shows a high brand recognition value. What you can improve: Registering some vanity domains (e.g. hardware.mycompany.tld) could be a great help to market specific product groups. [Marketability - Content and structure of website] The index page is well structured and contains all relevant elements. Matching keywords (e.g. product groups and shop location) are also available and appearing at first half of page. Some images contain no "alt" arguments describing their content closer. However adding such arguments could improve website's ranking. Repeated keywords at the end of index page (using white text on white background) should be removed. This is just a bad trick to achieve higher rankings, but often search engines refuses to include such websites. [Position analysis] Keywords examined: 1. companyname 2. product1 3. product2 4. service1 5. service2 Search engine A... Result probability: 75 % Best result: Top-25 Search engine B... Result probability: 50 % Best result: Top-50 Search engine C... Result probability: 0 % Best result: No match found Search engine D... Result probability: 30 % Best result: Top-100 Search engine E... Result probability: 45 % Best result: Top-50 Testing conditions: In order to calculate the result probability, search operations were done for above stated keywords and their combinations. Found results were then set in relation to each search operation. By doing so, operations basing upon multiple keywords generally rated lower. As higher the result probability, as higher the chance to find the site in question by using the concerned search engine. The indicator "best result" belongs to the highest found hit within a particular search operation and is not related to the result probability. The competitors www.badcompany.tld and www.wrongcompany.tld however rated mostly at same or better positions; this applies in so far as keywords are matching to these particular companies. What you can improve: It is recommended to refresh listings at search engines, after the site has been optimized. Paid advertisements, e.g. buying keywords at search engines, is mainly suited for increasing sales at the online shop. Such keywords should include some product groups or manufacturer names, since these are commonly searched terms. [Content and structure] This website is a typical retail business site, which is focused on private consumers (computer hardware and software, mainly games). Used text style and layout attracts this audience. A general grammar and syntax check brought out no errors. However product descriptions at the online shop could be more extensive. In addition, many product entries are missing pictures. Graphical elements and images are placed logically and appeared in good condition. As stated previously, "alt" arguments are absent now and then. Layout is clearly formatted, but some pages (especially the "technology review" section) are quite long and therefore hard to read. So either splitting or shortening them into smaller parts is strongly recommended for convenient reading. The section "technology review" attracts visitors to come back regularly and should be expanded. In order to strengthen attractiveness, introducing a periodic newsletter could promise success. In this way, site visitors can be bound much more to the site and a new marketing channel is available for online sales. Competitor www.badcompany.tld uses a more complex shopping system with enhanced features (e.g. wishlist and live chat ability). However the website lacks of optical quality. Competitor www.wrongcompany.tld's website focuses mainly on a business audience, while the analyzed one is being dedicated to end users and therefore both are not really comparable. Content quality however can be considered as being equal. [Report summarization] All in all the website www.mycompany.tld is in good working condition. It attracts visitors with a news section and clear structured online shop. However search engine marketability needs to be improved. In order to achieve long-lasting customer acceptance, it is absolutely necessary to increase maintenance services for the online shop. Website ratings at a glance: Website performance: 75 % (medium to high) Technical compatibility: 85 % (high) Marketability: 50 % (low to medium) Position analysis: 50 % (low to medium) Content and structure: 80 % (high) _________________________________________________________________________ Do you have specific questions regarding your report or wish us to service your website ? We look forward to speak with you: Telephone and Fax: +49 (0) 9225/96893 (Germany) E-mail address : support@starenterprise.com _________________________________________________________________________ STAR ENTERPRISE - http://www.starenterprise.com The Universe of powerful Internet and Business Services _________________________________________________________________________