Home

What Makes Us Unique

Why Outsource This Important Function?

What Results
Can You Expect?

Articles

Web Marketing Services

The Many Face(t)s of Web Site Maintenance

All businesses must evolve and adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs. In the Web world, the rate of change has been dramatically accelerated. No longer is it sufficient to have seasonal or annual changes in product mix, promotional materials, and consumer information. Change occurs continuously, and visitors want to see it reflected on your site, now!

Web site maintenance is a broad term that covers many tasks necessary to keep a site fresh, current, and attractive to visitors, while fulfilling the objectives of your company. To be effective, the site must constantly evolve in several areas:

Maintain Current, Accurate, Up-To-Date Content

Keeping the site accurate, literate, and credible is the first priority of Web site maintenance. Correct, without delay, any errors that are found in-house or reported by visitors, whether they are incorrect spelling, grammar, or facts, or features that are not operating properly in a visitor's browser environment.

Next priority should go to adding updated content and deleting or archiving old material. If you provide reports on regular events, don't make visitors wait a month to read them. Prompt reports will drive visitors to your site; delays will drive them elsewhere. If you provide alternate versions for access by text-based browsers or visually-disabled access, update those versions simultaneously with the main site.

Don't, however, delete material totally without considering whether it should be archived. If a visitor returns to review the information or sends a friend or associate to your site to see it, having it stored in a searchable archive will prevent frustration and keep the person coming back.

Provide a Fresh Experience for Repeat Visitors

Nothing kills site traffic like visitor boredom. Ensure repeat visits by frequently giving your visitors something new on the home page. Keeping them interested can be as simple as a changing photo, or as complex as daily news updates. On a site that features the latest news in an industry, something new and exciting should appear every day. For many sites, a weekly or monthly update is more appropriate.

Even if you have no news to report, fairly simple Javascript or Active Server Pages (ASP) code can display a randomly-changing or predetermined quote of the day, featured product, or photo. This doesn't have to involve daily reprogramming - it can be set up ahead of time. The e-commerce site Plaid Trunk displays photos of new products, with three different photos appearing each time the home page is visited or refreshed. An ASP routine randomly selects the images from files of photos. The only maintenance required is to occasionally add photos of new products and delete older ones.

Constantly Improve Usability And Navigation

Great content will provide value for your visitors only if they can find their way through the links and figure out how to use the features once they find them. Your familiarity with the site may make it hard for you to envision the experience that a new visitor has with it. Jakob Nielsen's biweekly Alertbox columns on Web site usability provide a virtual yardstick to help you evaluate your site's effectiveness.

Most web hosting companies provide access to the detailed server logs of each site. Your server log contains invaluable information on how each visitor found the site and navigated through it. Careful analysis can show you which pages are attracting visitors and holding their attention, and which are being overlooked. You may need to adjust the site's navigation to make certain pages easier to find, and redesign certain pages to keep the visitors on them longer.

If your hosting company doesn't provide formatted log reports, consider producing them yourself. Many analysis products are available, from freeware such as that provided by WebAttack to WebTrends, a comprehensive commercial product.

Consider adding a search function to the site, as a further navigation aid. Understand how the search operates, and be sure that all sections of the site, particularly new features, contain keywords that allow a visitor to find them easily.

Offer New Products and Services Sought by Your Target Market

The Web has eliminated the luxury of time to introduce new products. If visitors are accustomed to coming to you first and you don't have what they want today, they will click over to your competitor in seconds. Winners on the Web are cutting-edge providers of desired merchandise and services.

When your product mix changes, waste no time in getting new products onto your Web site. Invest in a digital camera and produce your own photos as soon as you have the first item in hand. Photograph your new service being performed. Highlight new products and services on your home page. And delete discontinued products as soon as your stock is depleted. Stay ahead of the crowd.

Copyright © 2001 Mary Ann Chapman
Previously published in edited form by Workz.com

Back to Articles