The StyleSheet - For businesses that use the internet

Bring Your Web Site into 2009

Posted January 1, 2009 By Caroling Lee |

Happy New Year!

With the start of the new year, it’s a great time to check your current Web site, make routine updates and also start thinking about how you’d like the site to work for you in 2009.

Here’s a checklist of some things to address:

Update/Check all content.

If you’ve had multiple people who have been adding, editing or removing content throughout the year, then it’s probably a good idea to give the site a full read-through just to make sure things are accurate and current. Even if there’s only been one editor on the site, now is a good time to make sure that the content is ready for 2009.

• Check the footer and copyright date.
• Check contact information and staff pages.
• Check that all links are still functioning. A free, simple link checker to use is Dead Links – http://dead-links.com/. It’ll tell you if any of your links are broken.
• Are there new content or new pages of content you want to add?

Check styles for consistency.

Does your site look like ‘Franken-site’ with different sizes and styles of fonts and incorrect formatting? This is a great time to run through and correct these issues. Inconsistent styles make a Web site look amateur and dated. If you’re on an older content management system, you may experience ‘Franken-site’ from multiple editors making changes. It’s important because well-maintained sites portray professionalism and credibility.

Check for software updates.

Are you using various applications that might need to be updated? Check the versions of any applications you’re using and see if they’re current. If you’re a TradeMark client, log in to your Client Toolbox and feel free to get in touch with us if you’re not sure.

Test for browser compatibility.

The main browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome) get updated throughout the year. Download the latest versions and run a test on PC and Mac to see if anything on your current site is broken.

Back up and archive the site files.

Generally, your hosting company has backups, but it’s always good to have a version archived in a safe place like an external hard drive or a hard copy. If you are comfortable with FTP, you can log in to your site files and copy them over to a backup. This is technical, so if you’re not familiar with this process, contact your IT administrator or technical contact.

Review your design.

Does the current look and feel still reflect your company/organization’s brand? How old is the site? Is it time for a design refresh? This might be as simple as updating your color palette or getting the newest version of the logo added.

Think about upgrading your Content Management System.

How long have you had your current system? Is it still working well for you? Is there anything you’d like for it to do that it doesn’t currently do? Is it still doing basic functions for you easily and effectively? If it’s been more than 3 years, there’s a good chance you should consider upgrading to a newer system. There have been a lot of improvements in CMS systems in the past year and they have more robust features including better user and user group management and countless plug-ins and extensions that allow limitless customizations. Get in touch with us and we can help consult with you on whether it’s time for a better system.

Review your traffic stats for the last year.

Do you see any trends? Was there some aspect of your Web site that you were hoping to get more traffic, but didn’t? What about vice versa? Traffic statistics are important to check a few times a year, but if you haven’t been following them – now’s a good time to do a year-end review.

Don’t have analytics on your website? No problem – ask us about installing Google Analytics. The software is free and really easy to use.

Clean up/organize the files on your Web server.

Have you been uploading tons of images and documents to your server, many of which you don’t use or don’t recognize? Now is the time to purge and get organized. Set up a naming convention for the files so that you won’t have to do this again next year.

Check your domain registration status.

This is something that often gets forgotten because domains are usually registered for years. Do you know where your domain is registered (i.e. GoDaddy, Network Solutions, 1&1)? Do you know who owns the registration (i.e. the administrative contact or technical contact on the account)? Do you have the login info to access and manage your domain? When is the renewal coming up and what email address is going to get the renewal notice?

If you don’t respond to a renewal notice in enough time, you risk losing your domain and having your site turned off. Domain registration information is REALLY important to keep updated and in a place where you can find it. I recommend designating one person who you feel confident will be responsible with the information.

Check your email administration account.

Do you have a lot of email accounts that you no longer use? Delete them.

Maintaining your site is important throughout the year, but if you’ve been slacking, the new year is a great time to reassess to make sure your site is working to its fullest potential.

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