Content Responsibility

   

A discussion of the site revision date is a perfect lead-in to the topic of content responsibility. You see, one of your responsibilities as a Web site owner is to keep the information on your site accurate and up to date. But that's not your only responsibility.

Keep Information Current

The more detailed and time sensitive your site's information is, the more time and effort it will require to keep that information current. For example, The Chicago Safe Company's Web site (see Figure 3.1) is basically an online brochure. None of its information is time sensitive. As a result, it doesn't need to be updated very often at all.

But one of the Web sites I maintain, wickenburg-az.com (http://www.wickenburg-az.com/; see Figure 5.4) includes recent area news stories right on the Home page. If I don't update it at least once a week, the information will be stale and everyone will know it. The Web site will look poorly maintained in the eyes of site visitors .

Figure 5.4. The wickenburg-az.com Home page includes time sensitive information that must be updated regularly to stay fresh.

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Look at your site objectively, as if through the eyes of a site visitor seeing it for the first time. Then determine how often you need to update site pages to keep the content fresh.

Tip

One way to encourage repeat visits to your site is to update site contents regularly. Add new, valuable information any time you can. Visitors who know about your site will keep coming back to see what's new. And if you're lucky, they'll tell their friends about your site, too.


Keep Information Accurate

Accuracy is extremely important on your Web site. Site visitors expect the information they find to be correct. Imagine the frustration (or even anger) when they discover that your product doesn't have all the features your site claims or it sells for a higher price than listed on your site.

Keeping information accurate shouldn't be that difficult. Simply review the site's contents regularly ” especially right after you add or remove a product or service or make a price change. Make changes as necessary. Be thorough and don't let anything fall through the cracks.

Respect Copyrights

On the Web, you'll find a lot of "borrowing" ”using someone else's material in a Web site. Unfortunately, in many cases the borrowing is really copying and is against copyright law.

What does this mean to you as you gather content for your Web site? It means that you cannot simply take content ”whether it's text, images, or sounds ”from another source and include it on your Web site without the permission of the creator/copyright holder of that content. It doesn't matter if the source is in print or on the Web ”if it isn't yours, it's protected by copyright law.

What if you find some great content that's just perfect for inclusion on your Web site? How do you include it without violating copyright law? I can think of two ways:

  • Get the written permission of the copyright holder. When requesting permission, you're likely to get one of three responses: no, yes, or yes if you pay a fee.

  • Include a link to the content on your Web site. If the information is already on the Web, why reproduce it on your site? Simply describe the information on your site and include a link to it so visitors can see it where it legally resides.

Just remember that someone probably worked very hard to create that content. Reproducing it without permission is the same as stealing it. Not only is it dishonest and illegal, but it can get you and your company into trouble.

Tip

Want to learn more about copyrights, especially as they relate to computer illustrations and Web publishing? Be sure to check out Electronic Highway Robbery , a Peachpit Press book by Mary E. Carter. You can learn more about it at http://www.peachpit.com/books/catalog/88393.html. Or for a more general discussion of copyright information, visit the Library of Congress Copyright Office Web site at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/.


   


Putting Your Small Business on the Web. The Peachpit Guide to Webtop Publishing
Putting Your Small Business on the Web
ISBN: 0201717131
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 1999
Pages: 83
Authors: Maria Langer

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