Volume II, Issue 4
ISSN: 1547-7754
September 2004
printable version

Chris King, Editor
By subscription only, this monthly e-newsletter is loaded with short, "down and dirty" tips to help you with solving the everchanging and growing puzzle of the Internet. This e-zine serves as a place to ask your questions and find the answers. So, send me your burning questions.

I am so glad you asked that question. The beauty of the Internet and websites is that they can undergo changes on a regular basis – even daily. Unfortunately, however, many websites are launched and sit there getting older and more out-of-date by the moment, day, week, month, year and years. It is so obvious when we visit a website and check the events calendar only to find events listed for the year 2000. I usually check the copyright date and when I find it only lists to 2002 or 2003, I figure that the site hasn’t been updated for awhile.

Another reason to be on top of the site maintenance is that the important search engines like Google and Yahoo search regularly for changes on websites, and those that are updated regularly with good content rank higher in the ratings.

So, in this issue, I will share some processes that you can use to make sure your website is maintained regularly and is up-to-date.

Process #1. Make an agreement with your web designer. Even though I always offer my clients ways that I will design their site so that they will be able to do their own maintenance, 95% would prefer to have me do the updates. I even offer a service where I will help them learn an authoring program as we proceed with the development of the website, so that they can take the site over completely once it is launched. Still, most find that sending me the information regularly and having me do the updates for an hourly rate works out the best for them. So, I am advising you to find out if the designer/developer you hire will be willing to maintain the site and for what rate and for how long. Write it into the contract.

Process #2. Plan to use Macromedia’s publishing program, Contribute (now at level 3). This program is a delight and will work for all websites – even if they were not created using a Macromedia product. Contribute’s capabilities include connecting to your live website, making a draft of the page you want to update, doing the editing, changing and updating, and then publishing it back on the live website. The helpful part of Contribute is that it works like a regular desktop program, making changes as quick and easy as everyday working on your computer. If you need to run changes to the site by someone else, you can upload the changed file to a temporary page and send an e-mail with the address to all who need to take a look. Once the page is okayed and published, the temporary page is deleted. You can also start to make changes and save the draft you are working on until you are completely ready to publish it. You also have rollback features, so that you won’t lose the original if you want to bring it back. You can also create new pages and publish them to the website.

To use Contribute, I suggest you let your website developer/designer know ahead of time, so he or she can set up the site so it works with Contribute in the most effective way. He or she should also be willing to help you get started with this helpful program.

Process #3. Either design and develop your own website or work with a willing designer. This is someone who will teach you the “ropes” and help you set your site up – on your own computer – in a professional manner. Yes, it is easy to get a website up on the Internet. That’s why there are so many websites that leave something to be desired. This mentor should help you with graphics and understanding more than just the basics. When someone asks me to fill this role, unless he or she is already web and computer software savvy, I suggest using FrontPage, even though the authoring program of choice for me is Macromedia Dreamweaver MX or MX 2004. In my opinion, the learning curve for Dreamweaver is steep, and those who have been working regularly with Microsoft products will find FrontPage to be very friendly. As the newer versions have evolved, the program has become better and better (and it is a good bit more reasonably priced than Dreamweaver).

Once you have learned the program and have experienced uploading, testing and launching, you should be ready and able to maintain your website on a regular basis. And this leads me to the all important …

Overall Process. Make a maintenance schedule and stick with it. You may have a designer to do the updates, the program Contribute to use yourself or the files for your website right on your computer. No matter which of these descriptions fit, you are the one who is responsible for keeping up with your site. If you include events, delete the ones past and add the new ones (weekly is a good idea). Remove old news that no longer applies. Update descriptions. Add a new photo and/or graphic, a new article or heading, and a new offer. Think of ways to make your website lively and interesting so that visitors will want to return on a regular basis.

Attention! New Offer from Chris King. After visiting many websites, and talking with website owners, I realize that many have sites that are in need of a refurbishing, but the original designer(s) is no longer available. If this applies to you, I am now willing to help you update and freshen your website. Give me a call at (216) 991-8428 or e-mail me at chris@creativekeys.biz.

Remember, send your comments and questions to me at chris@creativekeys.biz. I love to receive feedback and will answer your questions in future e-zines.