Web Site Maintenance
There are many things that all webmasters must do on a regular
basis to ensure that their web sites remain useful and
functional. Some of the tasks you should be performing are
listed below.
Promote
You must promote your web site constantly. Every single day you
should do something, anything, which attempts to get people to
your site. This is extraordinarily critical in order to ensure
that people continue to visit your site day after day. The
"Advertising" section describes many of the techniques that you
can use to get your site noticed.
Advertising -
http://www.internet-tips.net/Advertising/Advertising.htm
Check your links
Another task that must be performed on a regular basis is
checking for "link rot". This is the tendency for broken links
to appear all over a site. It is most common with external links
(sites move, are abandoned or are modified all of the time) but
can occur occasionally with internal links.
Link Rot -
http://www.internet-tips.net/Webmaster/maintlinkrot.htm
Change Your Site
People expect sites on the web to be constantly changing. If
your site is static and unchanging there is no reason for
someone to come back again - after all, they've already seen it
so why return? One major way to get them to come back is to
change the content constantly and to be sure that your visitors
know it is changing.
Monitor Your Site
Subscribe to a service which checks your site on a regular
basis. This is important, as if your site is constantly
"bouncing" you will find it being removed from search engines
and your visitor levels will drop.
Review Your Statistics
A task you should be performing on a regular basis is to review
your statistics. At a minimum, you should check your page counts
to be sure that your site is being viewed. At best, you need to
know where people are coming from, which browsers they are using
and what they visited while they were at your site. A webmaster
who does not have access to statistics is a crippled webmaster
who has no idea how effectively his website is performing.
Statistics -
http://www.internet-tips.net/Webmaster/Statistics.htm
Publish A Newsletter
I firmly believe that all webmasters who maintain sites of any
significance (a reasonable amount of content) should regularly
publish a newsletter. This allows interested visitors to be
updated on events and new materials published on the site, and
gives the webmaster a method for communicating with his audience
at will.
Ezines - http://www.internet-tips.net/Ezines/index.htm
Stay Up-to-Date
All webmasters need to stay up-to-date on new technologies which
they can use to improve their web site. In addition, getting
certified, joining organizations, continuing their education and
attending conventions is essential to staying current and active.
Certifications -
http://www.internet-tips.net/Misc/Certifications.htm
Organizations -
http://www.internet-tips.net/Misc/organizations.htm Education -
http://www.internet-tips.net/Misc/education.htm
Review Your Site
Occasionally review your site. When you look over a page, check
your grammar, spelling and accuracy. Remember that as time
progresses your articles may become stale, so be sure and
recheck your conclusions and facts. What may have been true when
you wrote the article last year is not necessarily true or
important anymore.
Check Your Site's Security
Learn as much as you can about web site security, and ensure
that, to the best of your abilities and knowledge, that your
site is secure. This ensures that your customers (if any) and
visitors information remains confidential and safe. It also
protects you and your web host from harm.
Protect Your Visitor's Privacy
Post a privacy policy and adhere to it without exception. Review
your practices occasionally against your policy to ensure you
are following it to the letter.