Websites Need Maintenance, Too
I just posted this article to Biznik…..Dan
Just as you wouldn’t move your business into a “bricks and mortar” building without budgeting for building maintenance, you shouldn’t start your business website without a budget for maintenance. An improperly maintained website can be just as much of a millstone around your business’s neck as a poorly maintained building.
Dynamic Businesses Demand Dynamic Websites
If you expect your business to grow, you should also expect your website to grow. For example, if you add new products or services to your portfolio, you’re going to have to add those to your website. And, if you’re selling products via the Internet, you must be able to quickly add new products and delete slow sellers from your online catalog.
Other content should also be dynamic. Nothing turns off users more than website content that hasn’t changed for months and is woefully out of date. One way to keep your site’s content fresh is to blog about your company’s products and services and about industry issues. Blog early and often, though, or don’t blog at all.
A dynamic website will also continually add features to attract new customers and enhance the loyalty of existing customers. For example, in addition to a section describing your company’s products and services, you may want to add a section containing videos of your product in action. You may not need this feature initially, but make sure that your website design can accomodate this feature down the road.
Software Always Needs Upgrading
Developers of popular Web software, such as WordPress or Joomla, are continually releasing new versions. These new versions add new features and plug security holes, and if you use this software, you need to upgrade regularly. You may not need to install every new version that comes out, but you will need to do it every 12 – 18 months.
This is also true if your website has custom applications. For example, if you run a website for a membership organization, your website might include a member directory. As the organization grows, you may want to add fields to that directory or use that directory in different ways. It’s important that the site be designed so that the directory can be upgraded easily when needed or desired.
So, What’s a Business to Do?
If your business is big enough, you can probably afford a full-time Web developer to keep your site’s software up to date and add new features. To keep content fresh, you can hire a staff writer or find someone in Marketing with the appropriate skills.
If your business is small, though, you may not have these resources. If you find yourself in this situation, consider hiring freelancers to do these jobs.
When hiring a freelance writer to keep your website content up to date, look for one that has experience writing about your industry. You can find them by reading industry trade magazines or going to websites such as FreelanceSuccess.Com that have searchable writers’ directories.
When hiring a Web developer to maintain your website’s “infrastructure,” look for one with experience with the technology upon which your website is built. For example, if your website was programmed in PHP and uses a MySQL database, you probably want to hire a developer with that kind of experience and not a developer whose only experience is with Active Server Pages and the Access database.
Also look for a developer who is already maintaining websites. For many developers, maintenance is not something they enjoy, and if that’s the case, they may not do a good job for you. If you can find a developer with lots of experience with maintenance, chances are that he or she enjoys this kind of work, meaning that you’ll be more satisfied with the work.
Website maintenance is a necessity, not a luxury. A poorly-maintained website will turn away customers, but just a well-maintained building can attract new customers and welcome existing customers, so can a well-maintained website.