The answer involves dividing the term into its two component parts: community and website. Starting with the latter, any good website must meet the generally accepted technical standards for the genre, such as sharpness of images, clarity of options offered on the home page, attractiveness of design, and so on. Key criteria for evaluating a website include content, relevance and timeliness of data, as well as interactivity.
所謂社區網站應同時具備「社區」及「網站」的特質，不但需要達到一般網站架設的技術準則，如動線清楚、首頁選項設計清晰、美術設計賞心悅目等基本條件；內容的充實、網站資料的更新、即時性訊息的發布，以及網站與目標對象是否互動緊密等，都是評判網站的重要條件。