Over the several years I’ve worked in the Web Development and Consuting area, I’ve come across many websites. Some simply dazzled me with their layout and interactivity, some became very useful in my daily work and some, well, were buried and forgotten.
Since I like things to be organized, catalogued and easily accesible, I have a taste for directories. Directories, if well implemented, allow you to find what you’re looking for much faster than any search engine. Yes, even faster than Google.
One example I always show to my clients and friends is ClickSmart.com (the professionals directory, not the Webcam), a directory of certified experts that’s useful because of two things
- Professionals are pre-screened, so you don’t have to interview them.
- Content is well organized, so that if I’m looking for louisville realtor, I can find them after no more than 3 clicks from the home page.
That’s what really makes the site useful. You don’t have to browse through the whole site or search for a dozen keywords (Raleigh Landscaping, Realtors in Raleigh, etc.) and after that, not being sure to find what you’re looking for, least of all sure that you’ll find reputable profesionals.
3 Clicks. That’s my usual measure of how useful a website is. Of course, there’s design, layout, features but in the end, when I’m in a rush and I need to find something, getting to the information/person I need is what matters most. What’s your input on this?
In earlier days, 

This is a very clever move of MetaSpring, an 
(4 out of 5)














