Updating Site Content Features

Updating Site Content & Features

Throughout this book, I've stressed the importance of keeping your Web site up-to-date and interesting. Let me take a few moments to explain exactly what I mean and what you should be doing.

Keeping Content Fresh

I'm sure this has happened to you: You visit a Web site and see some kind of bold or flashing announcement about a new product or special price. Interested, you follow appropriate links to learn more. Then you learn ”from a page copyright date or "last updated" date ”that the page hasn't been updated in six months. Or two years .

This has happened to me more times than I can count. It's annoying, because I feel as if I were conned into following up on something that may or may not still be valid. It also makes me wonder just how up-to-date the rest of the site is. And whether the company cares about it. Or even whether the company is still in business.

If your Web site contains any time-sensitive material, it's vital that you update it on a regular basis. Old news is bad news. And bad news is bad for business.

Adding New Content

Once your site is up and running and all the bugs have been worked out, you might want to consider adding new content. This can increase the site's usefulness to visitors. It will also show repeat visitors that the site is always evolving and getting better.

For example, suppose in your rush to get your site online, you decided not to include some of the technical support information your company had accumulated . Just because you didn't include it when the site first went live doesn't mean you can't include it later. Create Web pages with the information, link them into your existing pages, and upload them to the site.

Or perhaps you've found that a large percentage of your telephone inquiries are from people who want to know where they can find your product locally. Add a list of authorized resellers to your Web site. This can cut down the number of inquiries for this information. Your customers with access to the Web can get the information they need quickly, without a [long distance] telephone call and you won't need as many people to answer the phones.

Adding New Features

Likewise, you can also add new features. This can make the site more useful for both you and your site's visitors.

For example, say your site includes an e-mail link for sales queries. Site visitors are using this link to send e-mail to your sales department, but half the customers fail to mention what product they're interested in and a quarter of them fail to include a phone number. If you can process CGIs on your Web server, you can solve the problem by removing the e-mail link and adding an e-mail form that includes fields for the information you need. This makes it impossible for the visitor to omit necessary information.

Or perhaps you've found that a high percentage of support calls ask the same few questions. You can add a searchable database of frequently asked questions or support documents. You can also add a form that visitors can use to ask technical support questions, thus adding them to the database. This can benefit customers who need help when your business is closed and can reduce your support costs.

Test, Test, Test!

I can't bug you enough about testing your site for problems or errors. (At least that's what my editor says; she keeps reminding me to bug you.)

Let's face it, when your Web site has problems, you have problems. Whether it's a missing graphic or a broken link, if a visitor sees it, he's going to wonder just how much you care about your Web site. Then he's going to wonder if you put the same care into your product or service. That's not good for you.

Testing is part of maintaining a Web site two ways:

• When you make changes to your site, test every page to make sure that the changes did not negatively effect their appearance or links.

• Periodically, test all pages ” especially external links on pages ”to make sure they appear and work properly.

You have no control over external links; if a page you linked to disappears from the Web, the only way you'll learn about the resulting bad link is if you try it. Be sure to fix or remove any bad links you find.