0. Page Quality Considerations for Specific Types of Pages

0. Ratings for Encyclopedia Pages

There are many encyclopedia-type websites. Some are highly-respected publications which are standard references. Some are websites with content created and edited by anonymous users with no editorial oversight or fact checking.

In many cases, we may not know the specific author of the encyclopedia article, and must rely on results from reputation research of the encyclopedia when judging the expertise of an article. High and Highest quality ratings can only be used for encyclopedias with very good reputations for accuracy and expertise.

As a rater, you will frequently encounter Wikipedia pages. In general, Wikipedia does have a good reputation. Wikipedia is a very popular resource and is generally valued for accuracy. However, there is no single author or organization that vouches for the accuracy of Wikipedia articles. Individual Wikipedia articles should be evaluated on the basis of page level checks because the quality of pages on Wikipedia varies.

A Wikipedia article with a lot of detailed, information -rich MC, and external references can usually be rated in the High range. Some Wikipedia articles may even be rated as high as Highest, although this rating is usually considered too high for an article on a medical, financial, or legal topic, which requires an extremely high level of expertise. Wikipedia articles can get PQ ratings up to High if they have a lot of high quality MC, are well-researched, and do a good job citing their resources. Otherwise, a PQ rating in the Medium range is often appropriate. Naturally, Wikipedia articles with very little MC should get lower PQ ratings.

2. Ratings for Pages with Error Messages or No mc

Some pages load with content created by the webmaster, but have an error message or are missing MC.

Pages may lack MC for various reasons. Sometimes, the page is “broken” and the content does not load properly or at all. Sometimes, the content is no longer available and the page displays an error message with this information.

Many websites have a few “broken” or non -functioning pages. This is normal, and those individual non-functioning or broken pages on an otherwise maintained site should be rated Low quality. This is true even if other pages on the website are overall High or Highest quality.

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Sometimes exploring a website reveals that the individual page is not an isolated example, but rather a symptom of an unmaintained site (or possibly a deceptive or malicious site). When that is the case, the page should be rated Lowest quality.

However, not all pages with error messages are Low or Lowest quality pages. If the purpose of the page is to communicate that content has been removed or is no longer available, and the page does a good job of communicating this message, the overall PQ rating may be higher; it may be Medium or even High. The Page Quality rating will depend on the website level checks and the content of the page.

Here are some examples of “broken” or “error message” pages, as well as pages which are missing MC:

	Webpage/Type of Content		Characteristics of the Page				Discussion
	Deliberately created with no		•	Large amount of prominent Ads and no			This is an example of a page with no MC. You
							might think that the MC is “missing” due to a
	MC			attempt to help users
							problem with this particular page, but in fact, this
							website has hundreds of pages that look the same
							way—no MC, just Ads. This website shows Ads
							with little or no attempt to help users, and should
							be rated Lowest quality.
			•	No MC (probably due to a temporary
	Page didn't fully load and			technical error)			This page has no MC and no error message. It is
	has no MC		•	Sufficient SC
							an isolated example of a page with no MC or error
			•	Positive reputation
							message on a website for a reputable newspaper
						for a town in Michigan. All of the navigation links
						work, and the page was later fixed.
							This is an example of a “custom 404” page,
							alerting users that the URL they are trying to visit
	Error page with custom 404		•	Nothing wrong, but nothing special			no longer exists. Some websites do a nice job of
							alerting users about a problem and providing
	message 1
							helpful tips.
							This page is on a well-known merchant website
							with a good reputation. However, this particular
							page displays the bare minimum of content
							needed to explain the problem to users, and the
							only helpful content is a link to the homepage.
			•	A satisfying amount of high quality MC for
	Error page with custom 404			its purpose			This is an example of a “custom 404” page,
			•	Helpful SC which improves the user
	message 2
				experience			alerting users that the URL they are trying to visit
			•	Positive reputation			no longer exists. This website does a nice job of
							explaining the issue and providing helpful tips,
							including a search box.
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	Webpage/Type of Content		Characteristics of the Page				Discussion
							This is an example of a “custom 404” page.
			•	A satisfying amount of high quality MC for			These pages are designed to alert users that the
	Error page with custom 404			its purpose			URL they are trying to visit no longer exists. The
			•	Helpful SC which improves the user			MC of this page is the cartoon, the caption, and
	message 3
				experience			the search functionality, which is specific to the
			•	Very positive reputation			content of the website. It is clear that time, effort,
							and talent was involved in the creation of the MC.
							This publication has a very positive reputation and
							is specifically known for its cartoons, which allows
							us to go as high as High+ to Highest.