Are You doing Regular Web Site Maintenance? - WebmasterForums.NET

Darioush · 07-25-2006, 04:52 PM

Are you performing regular maintenance to your business web site? If you are not then reconsider as maintenance to a web site is extremely important, especially for a small and medium sized business.
The reasons for regular web site maintenance:

People judge your web site on appearance and they judge in less then a second. What a person thinks of your web site is what they think of your business. Therefore, broken links, images that don’t show up will make it very easy for people to judge your web site a poor and in turn people will assume that you business is not professional or your products are sub-standard.
Repeat visits will increase, encouraging people to coming back to see what is new on your web page. (e.i. tips, articles or new promotions.
Search engines will place sites that are updated more often higher in there results pages. Search engines feel that the more recently a site has been updated the more likely that it contains up-to-date information. The higher your placement in a search engine the more traffic you will receive.
Will allow you to coordinate marketing strategy. If you are having a sale for example you can have your site reflex your print or television ads. This will help to maximize your marking strategy.

Remember that you do not have to update the whole site at once. If you break up your site maintenance it will not seem as big of a task.

Darioush · 07-25-2006, 04:53 PM

Website Maintenance: What does it take to manage your website?

Every action has a beginning phase where you launch your activity, a middle period in which you must sustain and develop it and a conclusion. Many people set up a website enthusiastically but then they find that they don’t have the skills or knowledge to maintain and develop it. So, what are the challenges in this middle phase of a website’s life and how can you meet them?
Updating the site: The beauty of a website is that it is not static like a brochure or printed document. You can change it to reflect new products or new developments in your enterprise. You can launch new campaigns, and at any time you can add more content.
The problem for some companies and individuals is that after they have paid a good amount of money to have their site built, they do not have any personnel who can make changes to the website, such as adding new text or photos etc. One solution to this is to make sure you have a good maintenance plan included in the contract or agreement you make your with your web designer, so that minor changes can be made by your original designer
Another solution, and one that gives you more flexibility, is to train someone in your organization to be able to work with an html editor (like Frontpage, Dreamweaver, or other similar programs). While not everyone has the skills to design a site from scratch, someone who is able to use the normal word processing programs can learn how to modify text and upload files to the server.
Promoting the site: If you just sit on your hands you cannot expect your website to live up to its promise. Many web designers do not have a clue about things like search engine optimization or submission, and the new website owner is left with a nice looking site, but no traffic. Furthermore there are other website related promotional tasks such as reciprocal linking, newsletter editing and mailing list maintenance which do not fall into the duties normally performed by the site’s original designer.
Once again check with your web designer or developer and see if they can perform any of these tasks economically or give you some help. If not, then some of these activities may have to be outsourced. Search engine optimization and submission, and even reciprocal linking, the activity of finding link partners, can be contracted from among the hundreds of companies offering such services.
You or a designated member of your staff can learn some of these tasks by reading online tutorials, e-books and newsletters (like this one!). Though this takes time, again it gives you flexibility and an ability to work at your own pace and within your budget.
Finally if you can’t afford the outside services needed to maintain and develop the site, and if you are not sure how to train yourself or your staff, a third solution exists in the form of Ken Evoy’s Site Build It (http://buildit.sitesell.com/webpromote2.html). In which powerful hosting, design, maintenance and promotional tools are provided along with step-by-step guidance enabling complete beginners to build, develop and manage effective websites.
Even before you start your website you should be thinking one step ahead, so that you can develop the site intelligently and vigorously, and ultimately be successful in your web project.

Darioush · 07-25-2006, 04:54 PM

Maintaining a website is just as important as building it in the first place! Unfortunately, most designers put much more effort into the initial design and launch of a website than they do in keeping the content fresh and keeping the site growing to best serve all visitors.A website should not be a static thing. It should be always growing, changing and adapting to its visitors. It is imperative that you maintain a commitment to posting accurate, timely information online. If people who visit your site find that the information never changes, they will stop accessing it. You've seen sites like this on the web. They resemble movie posters or ad bills that never change. Fewer and fewer visitors will return to them as time goes by.
Maintaining a website is never done: new information will always be waiting to be uploaded, old information will need to be updated, users will provide suggestions that need to be incorporated, etc. Refine your website and its contents daily if possible. Also, keep in mind that search engines look for an active site when they determine search and page rankings.
Never take your website down when launching a site redesign. There are even for-profit organizations that will do this. They take their website down and put a "hold" page that says something ridiculous like, "Pardon our dust! Our new site will go up in a few days, so be sure to check back!" NEVER do this.
Just as newspapers are committed to making sure they publish on time no matter what, just as theater companies are committed to the philosophy of the "show must go on" no matter what, you should be committed to always keeping your website operational.
Taking your website down for several days during a transition, or ceasing to keep a website updated while you wait for a new site to be redesigned or launched, is unprofessional and will make you look very bad to many visitors and potential supporters.
Visitor feedback
Keep in mind what your audiences want out of the site. Give all web users ongoing opportunities to provide feedback and suggestions for the site. This can range from putting a feedback form on your site, or asking your friends, "What do you think of my website?"
Content and design ideas
By way of search engines and referrals, check out sites for organizations similar to your own for content and design ideas. The proper use of the ideas of others is what the web is all about. This is how we all grow, by learning from each other.
Stories and newsletters
Add stories from newsletters that have been published since your site was launched, or information from publications that have come out since the website launch. Articles such as this one are also a keyword rich source of content for your website. Look for online articles that are relative to the content of your site and provide an archive of them for your visitors to peruse.
Track results
Track the responses that result from your website. It will help you plan more strategically for future posts and online activities. Your visitors are your best source of ideas, after all, they are your stock in trade. Treat them as such and remember that responding to e-mail from your visitors is a vital part of the art of maintaining a website.