7 Routine Maintenance Steps For Your Website

You've invested the time to create great looking, compliant
web pages. Now what? Maintenance, maintenance,
maintenance. You'll find that just as it is well worth
your time and money to create an attractive, compliant
website that is search engine friendly, you've got to
maintain your site to keep it that way.

Your website is a reflection of you and/or your business.
What does your website say about you? Missing or broken
links, outdated information, and missing images are just a
few of the things that can make your site look
unprofessional, as well as affect your search engine
ranking.

Your webmaster may offer maintenance services, but here are
seven steps that you can perform yourself to make sure your
web pages are – and remain - W3C compliant.

1. Each time you change a page, be sure to update the
keywords. You may be adding something or changing text
and you want to make sure your keywords reflect the changes.

2. Keep the html/xhtml code clean and remove old code when
not in use. Cluttered or improper html code will have an
adverse effect on your search engine rankings.

3. Color schemes can date your site. Adjust the colors of
your site as they become outdated, and keep in mind that
different monitors pick up colors differently.

4. When pages are changed, always check the links to make
sure they work, and check for outdated links. Links that
don't work make your site look unprofessional, and visitors
won't stay long if it doesn't look like your site is up to
date.

5. Be sure to keep current backup copies of all of your web
pages on your computer or an external backup drive. None
of us plans for technical difficulties or site crashes, but
we all know they can happen. Don't leave your business at
the mercy of your webhosting account. By keeping copies of
your web pages, you will be able to shorten the amount of
time it takes to get back up and running in case of a
calamity.

6. Always check changes to your site with at least 2
browsers; for example Internet Explorer and Firefox. You
may be surprised at the differences you see.

7. Review your pages after making changes to be sure that
they look the way you want them to. Also be sure to
validate the code and validate the CSS each time you make
changes.

Keeping your site fresh, updated, and working properly will
ensure not only more traffic, but more returning traffic.
So take the time to review and maintain your website
regularly.

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