How our site got a B, and what we’re doing to make the A next semester

From the helm, a ship's captain may not be aware what could be done better in the engine room.

The same is true of websites, which is why we developed our website grading rubric to help our clients identify and fix problem areas of their web marketing strategies. The rubric scores 8 categories which are converted into a GPA to give an overall letter grade:

• Search Rankings
• Site Analytics
• Site Traffic
• User Interface/Design
• Site Structure/Navigability
• Content Freshness/Relevance
• Conversion/Call-to-Action
• Email Marketing

After creating our rubric, we decided to be our own test subjects (call us the Dr. Jekyll of web companies); we administered the test to www.illuminatistudios.com. Our site scored a solid-but-slightly-disappointing B. Over the next few months, we’re going to implement as many of the changes in our recommendations report as possible. As we make changes, we’ll monitor site analytics and, after about 6 months, administer the test once more.

Read our recommendations report for www.illuminatistudios.com here. Also, learn about how you can sign up for a free analysis by our website grader in our news section.