Rocketface® Webmaster's Workshop
Designing A Website   
A beginners guide to building a classic website


Including the step-by-step webmasters tutorial
How to Design a Website

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Maintaining a Website

Index: Website Maintenance

Affiliate Programs Boost Traffic with Content Content Increasing Website Traffic
Keywords Link Baiting Links Tracking Marketing Website
Online Services Optimize Website Product Sales ROR RSS Sitemap Generator
Viral Marketing Website Promotion Website Traffic Analysis Keyword Density Analyzer
Summary

Maintaining a website

Maintaining a website is just as important as building it in the first place! Unfortunately, most designers put much more effort into the initial design and launch of a site than they do in keeping the content fresh and keeping the site growing to best serve all visitors.

It is imperative that you maintain a commitment to posting accurate, timely information online. If people who visit your site find that the information never changes, they will stop accessing it.

Maintaining a website is never done: new information will always be waiting to be uploaded, old information will need to be updated, users will provide suggestions that need to be incorporated, etc.

Information Icon Website Maintenance for Dummies

Never take your website down when launching a site redesign.

There are even for-profit organizations that will do this -- take their website down and put a "hold" page that says something ridiculous like, "Pardon our dust! Our new site will go up in a few days, so be sure to check back!" NEVER do this.

Just as newspapers are committed to making sure they publish on time no matter what, just as theater companies are committed to the philosophy of the "show must go on" no matter what, you should be committed to always keeping your website operational.

Taking your website down for several days during a transition, or ceasing to keep a website updated while you wait for a new site to be redesigned or launched, is unprofessional and will make you look very bad to many visitors and potential supporters.

Information Icon 15 Fixes For A Failing Website

Visitor feedback

Keep in mind what your target audience wants out of the site. Give all web users ongoing opportunities to provide feedback and suggestions for the site. This can range from putting a feedback form on your site to asking your friends, "What do you think of my website?"

The feedback given to you by your visitors will help to keep your content fresh and provide you with ideas for growing your website. All too often webmasters forget their audience. They get so absorbed by their own ideas that they turn their websites into a personal thing, and the people they are trying to reach are ignored. In time this can ruin a website.

Information Icon Connecting with your Website Visitors


Content and design ideas

It is imperative that you keep your website content fresh and always growing. Check out sites for organizations similar to your own for content and design ideas. Find successful sites by way of referrals and the search engines. Look at how these sites are designed and use this research to develop your own website.

Information Icon Sticky Sites Rule The Internet

    Stories and newsletters

    Add stories, RSS feeds and articles from newsletters and online article sites like ezinearticles.com that have been published since your site was launched, or information from publications that have come out since the website launch. This will keep your content up-to-date.

    Track results

    Track the responses that result from your website. Website traffic analysis will help you plan more strategically for future posts and online activities. And remember that responding to e-mail from the website is a vital part of how to maintain a website.

Information Icon Website Traffic Analysis for Beginners

Website Designing - Further Reading

Information Do You Know How To Create A Successful Web Site?
Information Icon All About Design Principles and Elements
Information Icon An Issue of Width - The Resolution Problem
Information Icon Critical Web Design Rules
Information Icon An Easy Way to Choose Attractive Color Combinations
Information Icon 8 Ways To Improve Bad Website Design
Information Designing Your Website - The Top Ten Pages to Include
Information Icon Visit the Webmasters Article Archive for further information on website design and webmastering.


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