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What makes a useful website?
There are thousands of sites on the internet that could be considered very 'useful', but obviously not all of them
can be listed here. These are some of the guidlines that we use to weed through the web and decide what will be
most useful to you.
1. Service. Ask yourself: What does it do for the user? There are plenty of sites that sell things, entertain you with jokes, videos, and give you news. But there are also some great websites that can actually help you do things in your everyday life.
2. Easy to use. If you’re providing a service or some great information to your users, it doesn’t do much good if they can’t figure out how to get to it. Make sure that people can easily understand what to do, where to look, and how to find things.
3. Best in the category. If there are dozens of sites that do the same thing as you, then make sure you do it better. Even if the information and results are the same, simple things like presentation, colors, and design can make the difference. A more appealing or simple interface than similar sites can certainly help people choose a favorite.
4. Free. Unless otherwise specified, all the sites listed here are free to use. If you love to spend money, then by all means you can do that. If you're willing to spend a few bucks, then the possibilities can skyrocket. But you’d be surprised to find that many of the same services and utilities can be found at no charge.
5. Limited ads. Advertisements are both the blessing and curse of the internet. They clutter up pages and flash in your face, but the internet would certainly not be what it is without them. They encourage and motivate more people to build sites and services but can be very distracting to visitors. There are many sites where you can’t tell where the site ends and the ads begin. Keep ads and banners to a minimum.
