For this paper, however, choose 15-20 effective corporate/professional websites (such as Microsoft, IBM, Saturn, Amazon, etc.) and find at least six (6) major web characteristics that contribute to the professionalism of the websites. What makes them effective? How are they effective as web writing? Does the writing itself (the actual text) have a particular style that allows users to easily scan/find information? Remember, this is an analysis paper; don't just say a certain feature is good, also say why it is good, showing how that feature is implemented in the webpage, so your readers have concrete examples of ways to implement these features in their own webpages.

Methodology & Concepts
Think about the main characteristics of the sites that make the site useful: writing style, navigation, organization, amount of information, arrangement, design, search engines, etc. You don't have to write a thorough analysis of each site and how each one develops each aspect of the site—in fact, don't. This is not an individual analysis of each website you choose, but an analysis of the genre of professional websites. Look at all of your sites and see what complete, educated generalizations you can make about what a professional website should contain. Notice patterns between different sites; if eight of your sites employ a certain web technique or feature, describe how this feature contributes to the effectiveness of a site in general, possibly with an example or two, and how users can benefit from such features.

Also, don't be afraid to critique or compare the different sites to each other. One site may have excellent navigation but a poor visual design; another may look really good but be rather unorganized. Point out these characteristics and try to establish a set of criteria for an "effective website."

Web Development Trade-Offs
Even though this paper is evaluating effective web development, don't feel as though you have to only mention good things about the sites. Many features on the web have good and bad aspects—there are trade-offs for implementing certain features. For example, this page has few images and little text variation; this emphasizes the text of the assignment, forcing readers to read all of the text closely, but makes for less appealing visual design. Be sure to examine the trade-offs, if any, of certain features and show how these affect the website.

Your Finished Paper
When you complete this paper, you should have a good overall analysis of how corporate/professional websites in general design their sites and accommodate their users. This assignment states above to choose "effective" websites; basically, your paper will be determining criteria for what makes an effective webiste. The findings from this assignment will become guidelines for your own website development.