Website Analysis Project
Due date: Sunday, November 9, 2025, at 11:59 pm
Points value: 50 points
It’s time to put what you’ve been learning about web writing this semester to the test!
For this assignment, you will analyze a website based on the concepts you have learned from our course readings. As a professional, you may be asked to create or update web pages; however, you will also likely have opportunities to evaluate web content and make suggestions for improvement. You will accomplish a similar task here.
Choose a Website
The first step is to choose a website. Find one that relates to your field and/or future career endeavors in some way.
For example, if you want to go into medical writing, you could choose a website about a certain disease. If you’re interested in digital marketing, you might look for a blog about SEO for beginners. Or, if you want to work with nonprofits, find a nonprofit organization’s website to analyze.
Now, an imaginary scenario: The author/writer/owner of the website you chose wants to get your feedback. Based on what you have learned, you will analyze the website content and present your findings in a brief summary.
Evaluate the Website
To get started, read some of the content on the website. Context is important. Depending on the size, you may want to read several sections or just a few representative pages.
As you pursue the website, consider the following:
- Who is the audience? How did the author cater to that audience? (Gustafson's Adaptive Web Design)
- What best practices did the writer follow? What could be improved? (Barton, Kalmbach, and Lowe's Writing Spaces)
- How effectively did the writer organize and manage the nonlinear content of the website? (Akpem's Building Nonlinear Narratives for the Web)
- Did the author write succinctly? In what way did they trust the reader (or fail to do so)? (Loranger's Plain Language Is for Everyone, Even Experts)
- How effective were the instructions? (Metts and Welfle's Standards for Writing Accessibly)
For further guidance, refer to the course readings as listed for each query or any other readings we've covered this semester.
Write an Analysis
Treat this assignment as a real-world task: Analyze the content of the website and write a short summary of your findings to present to your (imaginary) client.
For 573 students, answer at least three of the above listed questions; for 679 students, answer at least four.
Additionally, everyone should include at least one recommendation for the author of the website. What should the writer do differently to improve the web content? Use (one or more of) the course readings as a source for your recommendation.
It’s up to you how you present your findings, but consider what would be helpful for your client. You could take screenshots, include direct quotes, list URLs, or even give examples of other websites to reference. The (digital) world is yours.
To get a better idea of what I'm looking for, take a look at a student example from a previous year.
Please submit your website analysis project in HTML/CSS form, just like you did for the small research website proposal, annotated bibliography, and client website proposal. Don't forget to zip it into a folder—otherwise, Brightspace will mess it up.
Remember to let me know if you have any questions. I'm excited to see your findings!