Keeping Your Website In Top Condition - 5 Easy tips for maintaining a streamline site

By Janet Thompson
Posted Wednesday, December 1, 2004

Whether you are the master of your own domain or webmastering for someone else, you want to maintain the most efficient website you can. To achieve this takes diligence and awareness on your part. Here are five ways to maintain that site with minimum effort. The best idea is to schedule this small list as part of your regular weekly routine.

1. Go through your site and click on links. Check to ensure that all links work and are loading properly. If you have massive lists of links, break them down and do a portion a week as a rotating maintenance. This upkeep includes images. Take a quick tour through your site to make sure there are no broken images. Nothing looks so unkempt as that little red x where your image should be.

2. Check the bulletin board or guest book and reply or respond to your correspondence. People love getting prompt and courteous answers to questions or queries they address to you. Even if one of your visitors has left a small comment or url in your guest book, respond to them. This is internet networking in it's most elemental form, but the returns are enormous. Branding your name to your site is how people will remember you and return often. Receiving a note in their email saying something such as "thanks for dropping by (mysite.com) and leaving your url for us" is going to further imprint your internet address in their mind. It's great public relations.

3. If you carry affiliate advertising or other sponsor text or banners, check your management page to make sure the affiliate is still active. A common maintenance problem webmasters face is a discontinued sponsor link. Your surfers end up at a 404 or they reach the affiliate's home page, but you don't get the credit for their click-thru. You can't make money if your affiliate link isn't active.

4. Update time-sensitive information or links. One of the most annoying things for your visitors is to be drawn into clicking a link, only to find the topic/contest/offer expired. They may not click next time. Keep your website current.

5. Remember to change your *this site updated on - * date. People will continue on their way if they surf to sites that haven't been updated in forever. Current information and articles will attract readers far faster than material last updated months ago.

With these five simple maintenance tips scheduled into your regular routine, you'll not only cut down on larger upkeep later, butembarrassment from receiving reader email telling you this or that is down. You want to present efficiency and care. Keeping the little things fixed is a great way to do just that.

About the Author
Janet Thompson: author, publisher, humorist Write Humor – (http://www.writehumor.com)
Email - mailto:jt@spiritquill.com