Grade the Website

Why grading matters

A lot of people stop too early. They generate pages, upload files, see the site online, and assume the job is done. But a real website should be reviewed from the visitor’s point of view.

Grading helps you ask:

• Is the site clear?
• Is it useful?
• Does it feel trustworthy?
• Does it guide the visitor well?
• Does it work well on mobile?
• What needs improvement first?

What ChatGPT is good at in grading

ChatGPT can be surprisingly useful as a reviewer if you ask in a structured way. It can help you evaluate:

Area	What ChatGPT can notice
Clarity	Whether the site explains itself well
Structure	Whether sections and navigation make sense
Consistency	Whether the design and tone feel coherent
Usefulness	Whether pages genuinely help the visitor
Mobile experience	Whether layout and readability hold up on smaller screens
Trust	Whether the site feels credible and complete

What not to ask

A weak grading prompt sounds like:

Grade my site.

That is too vague.

A stronger grading prompt asks for categories, specific weaknesses, and priority fixes.

What to ask ChatGPT to grade

A strong website review usually includes these categories:

• overall grade
• clarity of purpose
• homepage strength
• section structure
• internal linking
• mobile friendliness
• trust and credibility
• consistency of tone and design
• helpfulness to the intended audience
• top fixes in priority order

A strong grading prompt

Here is a practical model:

Please grade my website as a real user and editor.

I want:
1. an overall grade
2. grades for clarity, structure, design consistency, mobile experience, trust, and usefulness
3. the top strengths
4. the top weaknesses
5. the top 5 fixes in priority order
6. what feels confusing
7. what feels amateur
8. what should be improved first for the biggest gain

Please be honest and specific.

That kind of prompt creates much better feedback.

How to grade a training site properly

For a training site like website.co.jp, some criteria matter especially strongly:

How to grade a homepage

The homepage should be judged on questions like:

• Do I immediately understand what this site is?
• Do I know who it is for?
• Do I know where to go next?
• Do I trust this site after a short look?
• Does the page feel polished and purposeful?

If the answer to those is weak, the homepage still needs work.

How to grade the structure of the site

Ask questions like:

• Do the sections feel logical?
• Are the filenames and page purposes aligned?
• Do the section index pages actually help?
• Does the training path feel orderly?
• Are important pages too hidden or too exposed?

This is especially important for content-rich sites.

How to grade mobile responsiveness

Since this site aims for A+++ quality, you should explicitly ask for mobile feedback too.

Good questions

• Does the header feel usable on mobile?
• Do cards stack well?
• Are buttons large enough?
• Does the page have awkward spacing or giant gaps?
• Does text remain readable without crowding?

A site can look strong on desktop and still fail badly on mobile if this is ignored.

How to grade trust and credibility

This is a very important but often overlooked category. A site can be technically correct and still feel weak if it does not feel credible.

Ask:

• Does the site feel authoritative?
• Does it feel maintained?
• Does the founder story help or distract?
• Do the visuals support trust?
• Does the tone sound honest and experienced?

This is especially important for a site teaching real-world workflow.

How to ask for actionable fixes

One of the best follow-up prompts is:

Based on your review, give me the top 5 fixes in priority order.
For each fix, explain:
- what the problem is
- why it matters
- what kind of improvement would solve it

This turns vague criticism into a useful work list.

How to use grading more than once

Grading is not a one-time ceremony. It can be reused:

1. once after the site is structurally complete
2. again after major revisions
3. again after the homepage improves
4. again when mobile issues are fixed

In that sense, grading is part of an improvement loop.

What makes a grading result useful?

A useful review usually has:

• clear categories
• specific examples
• priority order
• practical fixes
• honesty about weak spots

If the review is too soft or too vague, refine the prompt and ask again more sharply.

Example follow-up grading prompt

Now be tougher.
Tell me:
- what feels weak
- what feels repetitive
- what feels unclear
- what feels visually amateur
- where mobile might still be weak
- what should be rewritten or redesigned first

That is a very useful second-pass prompt.

How grading fits the full website.co.jp workflow

This final step comes after:

1. local-first planning
2. site definition
3. filename planning
4. image planning and upload
5. shared CSS and JS
6. detail pages
7. section indexes
8. sitemap files
9. homepage creation

That means grading is not guessing. It is reviewing a real built site.

Common beginner mistakes

1. Asking only “is this good?”

That usually produces weak feedback.

2. Forgetting mobile in the grading prompt

Desktop-only praise can hide serious usability problems.

3. Not asking for priority fixes

Without priorities, the review can feel scattered.

4. Taking the first review as final truth

Reviews can improve when you refine the questions.

5. Getting defensive about criticism

Honest review is one of the fastest ways to improve the site.

What you should have by the end of this step

By the end of Step 13, you should have:

• an overall grade for the site
• category-specific feedback
• a list of strengths worth keeping
• a list of weaknesses worth fixing
• a priority order for improvements
• a clearer sense of what to improve next

Mini cheat sheet

When grading a site, ask for:
- overall grade
- grades by category
- top strengths
- top weaknesses
- top 5 fixes in priority order
- what feels confusing
- what feels amateur
- what should improve first

Be specific.
Ask for honesty.
Use the results to revise.