Evaluating the Usability and Content Usefulness of Web Sites: A Benchmarking Approach

Although benchmarking technique has been widely used in various aspects of organisations and businesses, there is no clear framework on how the technique can be applied for Web evaluation. This article presents a framework for evaluating the usability and content usefulness of Web sites by using the benchmarking approach. It describes the purpose of evaluation, metrics to be used, and processes through which Web benchmarking can be carried out. Several methods were used which include content analysis of literature and expert review. A total of 46 criteria were identified that can be used as the benchmarking metrics. The framework was tested for its applicability by evaluating four political Web sites in Malaysia. The results proved that the framework is easy to implement and would be particularly valuable for those who intend to benchmark the overall usability and content usefulness of their Web sites against those of their competitors.