The best designed website, much like your horse, needs regular attention. Unlike a horse, it is easy to neglect certain aspects of maintenance on your website and it doesn’t show as readily. Out of sight, out of mind. When is the last time you visited every page on your website to be sure each was working right?
Here are a few items to give your website a quick maintenance check:
1. The “www” prefix – many people no longer type the “www” when entering your web address. Does your site still load without it? If it doesn’t contact your hosting company to have them correct this. You may be confusing many potential customers.
2. Check your links. If you have a lot of ‘external’ links on your website be sure they are still working. There are link checking programs available to automate the process.
3. Usability – you may be super familiar with your website, but what about people who have never visited it. Find some people and ask them to complete a specific task on your website. Their feedback will be invaluable.
4. Clear Message – it is amazing how many sites you can visit and you are really not sure what they are for. Be sure your core message is communicated right away to your potential customers.
5. Spell-Checking – if you are not a detail person, or if you have looked at your site a thousand times it is really easy to pass over spelling and grammar errors. This can be a huge distraction to your potential customers. Look for a detail-oriented friend that can scour your website for mistakes.
6. PDF Documents are commonplace on the web today. If you use these on your website, do you have a link to Adobe’s website where people can download the free PDF Reader? Without the Reader people won’t be able to view your PDF documents.
7. Hiding email address – using your email address on your website can open you up to SPAM. Encrypting your address (see http://automaticlabs.com/products/enkoderform ) will help avoid your address being harvested automatically.
There are, of course, many other maintenance checks you can make on your website. Bottom line, your customers will thank you for every effort you invest in your site.
