#5 Take The Test

You've just completed your website. And you've took a thorough check through your links, navigations, positionings, text and images. So now what?

When you're building your own site (even if it's not the first time), you should always get feedback. Of course in most sites, it is common to include a feedback portal - forums, contact forms, polls - but that's not going to be effective enough if you want some real evaluation. My advice is that you should get some evaluation before you want to launch your site.

Get unbiased third parties to check out your site. Make sure they're not keeping any criticisms from you just because they are your best buddies. Get people to throw their opinions out loud. And on your side, receive everything (whether good or bad) with open arms. One way is to conduct a survey such that your respondents do not have to reveal their identity. As a result, people tend to be less shy in saying what they really think without offending you (since you can't identify them), although they are very aware that you have put a lot of hard work into your website. It is also important that your respondents are not discussing or sharing opinions with one another because what you want are their true and honest personal answers.

Once you have collected your data, look out for the responses that speak the loudest first, i.e. a common opinion that many people feel about your site. This is probably an important issue that you have missed or not taken particular notice of. Of course, do give serious consideration to opinions that only certain individuals mentioned. They may be biased perspectives, but it doesn't mean they're totally invalid. Look out for correlations amongst your data and try to spot certain trends, for example, between the colour of your site and the sense of appeal you give to visitors.

Most importantly, listen with an open heart. Remember, you are creating a website for your visitors, not yourself.