QUALITY ASSESSMENT

CRITTER CABANA
SITE AUDIT FINDINGS

Andrea Ausmus

Course:
TWC 445: Content Strategy
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Best Practices
Research
Critter Cabana is a small, pet store with two locations. When compared to some other equivalent
websites in the area Critter Cabana’s site appeared more cluttered and harder to use. In my recent
webpage audit I found that, though their website was currently up-to-date, they have not updated their
stylesheet or their blog in several years. For this reason, I have researched some more current trends
and best practices for the Pet Industry.

Design
• Vibrant colors and images for links to increase actionability
• Iconography and logos imbue the feeling of trust
• Use images that are clear and relatable

Layout and Context

• Add visual context to catch the eye and is more visually appealing than blocks of text
• At the same time, many images can slow the page and/or confuse users
• Simplify layouts and avoid clutter

User Experience
• Prioritize SEO and Meta descriptions
• To attract users, make sure that blog posts are up to date
• Make sure the call to action is clear

Content
• Do not use large blocks of text – keep text short and direct
• Use high quality images of products, users prefer to see before buying
• Footers should include copyright information, sitemap, privacy policy and terms of use, and
contact/social media details

Critter Cabana, as an ecommerce site, needs to simplify its large blocks of text and use more imagery for
its product list. Even as a digital store front more visual appeal is necessary to keep the user engaged.

Comparison Websites
I chose six websites to compare with CritterCabana.com. I chose websites that both appeared to have
good design and were a cross section of local and national website standards.

Some of the commonalities between these sites are:

• Four of the websites have a menu bar horizontally on the homepage

• Five have buttons in the top left corner (all but one lead to the home page)
• Two have images for products available online (this is an issue that appears to be industry wide
for the smaller stores)
• All websites rely on self-branding – logos, fonts, colors, and styles are consistent throughout
• All websites list brands available in-store

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None of the websites were as complete as a nation-wide pet store, like Petco.com, but they all had parts
of their websites that outshone Critter Cabana’s website. The largest difference between the
comparison websites and Critter Cabana was the simplification of their websites, using images, and not
using blocks of text.

Audit
Seven factors were measured in the qualitative audit, these ratings are described as listed:

Content
Description of the content found on the page.

Ex. banner, text, images, embedded website, website links, email links, etc.

Usability
How user-friendly is the webpage? Is it easy for a user to find the information they are looking
for?

Scale of 1 – 5; 1 = Low & 5 = High

Knowledge Ability
What knowledge is required to understand the content of the webpage?

Scale of 1 – 5; 1 = Novice & 5 = Expert

Findability
How easy is it to find the page? What methods are used to access the page? SEO, Site Map, etc.?

Scale of 1 – 5; 1 = Hard to Find & 5 = Easy to Find

Actionability
How easy is it for the user to find their next step?

Scale of 1 – 5; 1 = Hard & 5 = Easy

Audience
Who is the page’s main user?

Ex. Pet Owners, Pet-Interested, General Users, Prospective Employees, Teacher/Parent, etc.

Accuracy
Is the content on the page up-to-date, accurate, and complete?

Scale of 1 – 5; 1 = Low & 5 = High

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Content
On each page there was several types of content. The main content type of each page is based on the
focus of each page. Six different content types were tallied for the twelve total pages audited.

Type Number of pages

embedded website 1
form 2
images 1
paragraphs 6
table 1
website links 1

0
embedded form images paragraphs table website
website links

Improvements
The majority of the pages audited used paragraphs as the main content type. Breaking up the text with
images can help improve usability and visual balance. Half of the webpages from Critter Cabana rely
heavily on text to communicate ideas to potential customers. For the average user the block of text can
be overwhelming.

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Usability
Overall the usability of the website is unexceptional, scoring with an average rating of 3.56. This is likely
due to the blocks of text and a lack of visual interest. Many of the pages were cluttered, thus made
unreadable.

Page Name Rating (1-5)

Critter Cabana (Home Page) 3
Animals In-Stock 3
Blog 4
Contact Us 4
Meet the Owners 4
Jobs 4
Dog and Cat Supplies 2
Puppies 4
Kittens 3
Fish 3
Field Trip and Parties 4
Grooming 4
Average Rating 3.56

Improvements
The worst of the group was definitely Dog and Cat Supplies page. The
majority is designed as blocks of text and there are very few methods to help
keep the user’s attention. The information is thorough but very difficult to
read.

The designer used levels and blocks to break up the paragraphs but the focus
of the page is textual communication.

Knowledge Ability
Most of the Critter Cabana website is designed for the average user. Where
the user might be lacking in knowledge links were provided to help clear up
misunderstandings. The only section that might have a higher required ability
is the Fish page, specifically the options available for Aquarium Services.

Improvements
I am not convinced that there is a need to make the Fish page more
accessible for the average user. Though the average customer may be
knowledgeable to an average extent, a aquarium setup is often a knowledge

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set that builds from personal interest and trial. A light and easy solution may be for a
questions/concerns link to be provided.

Findability
Critter Cabana as a commerce site has big issue with findability. The score is averaged at 2.45. This is
based on both the ability to find the page from a search engine and the ability to locate the page on
Critter Cabana’s website. There is very little effort put into developing proper SEO and/or meta
descriptions.

Page Name Rating (1-5)

Critter Cabana (Home Page) 4
Animals In-Stock 2
Blog 2
Contact Us 2
Meet the Owners 3
Jobs 2
Dog and Cat Supplies 2
Puppies 3
Kittens 3
Fish 3
Field Trip and Parties 2
Grooming 2
Average Rating 2.45

Improvements
The low rating was due to Critter Cabana not establishing meta descriptions or titling pages to establish
a good SEO. Ideally beginning with the home page, establish a meta description for each page. The only
method to discover many of the pages was to look for nested menu items or follow random links.

An easy fix for any findability would be to ensure that the links are obvious Calls to Action. This can be
done by adding a button, an image, using font, color, or any other method to draw the eye to the link.

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Actionability
With an average rating of 3.78, Critter Cabana has created a reasonable amount of actionability. As was
mentioned in Findability, there are issues finding obvious Calls to Action on the website making some of
the pages score lower on their rating.

Page Name Rating (1-5)

Critter Cabana (Home Page) 3
Animals In-Stock 3
Blog 5
Contact Us 5
Meet the Owners 2
Jobs 4
Dog and Cat Supplies 4
Puppies 4
Kittens 3
Fish 4
Field Trip and Parties 3
Grooming 5
Average Rating 3.78

Improvements
Creating obvious Calls to Action on some of the lower scoring pages would help with this issue. The Field
Trip and Parties page, for example, has an email to contact about planning events but it is buried within
the block of text. Including a “contact” button at the top of the page would have a more desired effect.

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Audience
The audience for Critter Cabana’s website was
assumed from page content. The audience type
count shows that the website has been designed
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for pet owners and pet-interested users.

Improvements 1 1

Understanding the user desired would be a

beneficial first step. Doing some basic user
research and understanding customer desires
would help with creating a webpage that is less
cluttered and more user-friendly.

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Accuracy
With an average rating of 4.56, it would be assumed that this is Critter Cabana’s best category.
Unfortunately with a rating score of 1 on the Blog page Critter Cabana has created a feeling of a lack of
trustworthiness for the entire website. Though the information on the webpages appear to be up-to-
date, there are no time stamps other than the blog updates. The last blog post was made four years ago,
on October 15, 2015, and was about a recent fire at the store.

There are also several pages with broken links and old data. These can be frustrating for the user when
using the site for information.

Page Name Rating (1-5)

Critter Cabana (Home Page) 4
Animals In-Stock 4
Blog 1
Contact Us 5
Meet the Owners 5
Jobs 5
Dog and Cat Supplies 5
Puppies 4
Kittens 4
Fish 3
Field Trip and Parties 5
Grooming 5
Average Rating 4.56

Improvements
Accuracy is extremely important to draw users, as the average user is interested in trustworthy sites
over sites that might be old or non-functioning.

Several changes would benefit the website:

• Either update or remove the blog from the website. The time stamp alone dates the webpage.
• Remove any broken links. Any links that lead to non-functioning or outdated sites can cause
issues with trustworthiness.
• Add copyright information on the webpages so that the user can know that the website is still a
viable source of information.
• For the Animals In-Stock tables, consider converting to a database based on the store inventory
system. This would ensure that the animals in stock are the same as the list. Adding images
would also add to the understanding and trustworthiness of the table.

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Final Thoughts
The overall quality of the site is extremely average. This average rating belies a greater problem of a
mediocre user experience. Clutter and large blocks of text make the pages difficult to read and
comprehend. Minor changes in website management could improve these issues.

When compared to a major pet supply commerce site, Critter Cabana is inaccessible and lacking in
information. Adding more product images and less dialogue would make the webpage more competitive
against bigger retailers.

Nesting webpages in menu bar tabs alleviates clutter but also requires the user to search for
information they may not know exists. Recognizing the user’s needs would ensure that the information
needed is easy to find.

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References
Best Practices
Derringer, J. (2017, February 14). 10 Well-Designed Squarespace Commerce Sites. Retrieved from
https://design-milk.com/10-well-designed-squarespace-commerce-websites/.

Icons8. (2017, August 18). Website Footer Design: What to Include & Things to Avoid. Retrieved from
https://icons8.com/articles/website-footer-design/.

Snap Agency. (2016, September 20). Web Design Inspiration for the Pet Industry. Retrieved from
https://www.snapagency.com/web-design-inspiration-pet-industry/.

QuickSprout. (2019, March 12). Create a Website. Retrieved from https://www.quicksprout.com/best-

practices-for-running-a-successful-ecommerce-website/.

QuickSprout. (2019, April 18). How to Design a Homepage That Converts. Retrieved from
https://www.quicksprout.com/how-to-design-a-homepage-that-converts/.

Comparison Websites
Animal House Pet Shop. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.animalhousepetandsupplies.com/.

Buchanan Cellers. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.buchanancellers.com/.

Centinela Feed. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.centinelafeed.com/.

Kriser’s. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://krisers.com/

Nature's Pet. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.naturespetmarket.com/products/shop/.

Petland. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.petlandstrongsville.com/.

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