Features of Web teaches you to name every element on your site, explain what it does, and decide what to keep, change, or add, so your next update is a decision instead of a guess.
No design experience required. Includes the Website Features Audit & Planning Workbook and two printable guides.
Your homepage has a chat widget nobody answers, a footer copyright from four years ago, and a "Download Our Brochure" button that leads to a brochure you discontinued. Nobody remembers adding any of them.
Aw, man.
Here is the turn: every feature on your site can be inventoried, explained, and either justified or retired. An audit sheet and a clear set of questions are all it takes.
OK, man.
Ask the person who inherited an organization's website why the homepage still runs that chat widget, and the honest answer is usually a shrug. Nobody chose those things on purpose; they were already there. Features of Web is the course that turns every element on your site, chosen or inherited, into something you can name, explain, and justify.
Website Feature (Definition): Any element on a webpage that serves a specific function for the visitor or the organization, from navigation menus and contact forms to blog sections, social share buttons, and search bars.
You will start with the vocabulary every web manager needs but few were ever taught: the header and footer, the sidebar, breadcrumbs, the collapsible mobile menu, and the call to action (CTA), the button or prompt that answers a visitor's unspoken question, "what do I do next?" You will learn why responsive design is the same site adapting to every screen rather than a separate mobile site, and why Google treats your mobile view as the primary measure of your site's quality.
From there, the course moves from naming features to weighing their purpose: readable content structured for scanning, a blog held to a schedule you can keep, share buttons, contact forms protected by CAPTCHA, testimonials, and analytics that tell you whether the page you spent a week improving was ever the page your visitors needed. The course closes by turning evaluation into a written plan for your own organization, with features matched to what you actually sell or do.
The Inheritor. The site came fully built, and you need to understand what every piece of it does before you change anything.
The Founder. You added features as you needed them, and now the site is crowded. You want to know what is working.
The Nonprofit Volunteer. You need the site to collect donations, sign-ups, and inquiries without a designer on call.
The Career-Changer. You want the vocabulary to talk with designers and developers as a confident client.
A shared vocabulary for every part of a webpage, from header to footer
A tested review of your navigation on desktop, tablet, and phone, including touch targets and thumb reach
A completed Website Features Audit Sheet listing every feature on your site and the reason it is there
A clear list of features to keep, fix, add, or retire, matched to the products and services your organization provides
A contact page and engagement features checked against a practical checklist
An accessibility pass on your core features: alt text, captions, form labels, color contrast, headings, and keyboard navigation
A Website Features Planning Sheet for adding features over time, and a habit of telling your audience when something new goes live
Three milestones of video lessons plus an accessibility advanced topic
Website Features Audit & Planning Workbook (spreadsheet)
Website Features Reference Guide
Contact Page and Visitor Engagement Checklists
A plain-language glossary of every term the course uses
A 10-question course quiz; score 70 percent or higher to earn your Features of Web certificate
The responsive and accessibility lessons in this course draw on Chapter 6 of Strategic Web Management, "Design, UX, and Accessibility Basics." The book explains the principles; this course applies them, feature by feature, to your own site.
Get the BookDo I need to be a designer?
No. This course is about understanding and evaluating features, not drawing them. If you can edit a page in your content management system, you can act on everything this course recommends.
My site was built by an agency. Can I still use this course?
Yes, and it will make you a better client. The audit gives you a written record of what is on the site and why, which is exactly what you need when you request changes or review a quote.
Should I add a chat feature to my site?
The course covers that decision directly. The short version: only if your team can answer it promptly. An unanswered chat window does more harm than having none.
How do I earn the certificate?
Complete the three milestones and the advanced topic, then pass the 10-question course quiz with a score of 70 percent or higher. Your certificate is generated and issued automatically the moment you pass.
Types of Websites: know what kind of site you run before deciding which features it needs
Accounts Management: log every new tool and widget you add, along with who has access to it
Strategic Web Management: fit feature improvements into your 90-day plan and annual web plan