Web Maintenance

A few weeks back, I had an interesting conversation with a client about publishing content online. He made an informative point that back in the day content was published and for the most part, what was published was the end of the story. This obviously was the case with printed content, as once content went to the printers, the ink was pressed and the story was written. This viewpoint transitioned to the early, formative years of web content as well. Content published online, for a long time, was at least expected to be te final word. Now, what we see is iterations being published and content evolving – blog posts being revised nad edited, newspaper articles being revised, edited, corrected, all before our eyes and in between page reloads.

This had me thinking about my most recent position at my company as a Web Maintenance Project Manager and a few thoughts I gathered as a result of one year in web site maintenance and light web development.

Once you’ve completed the tough yet rewarding process of reviewing and revising sitemaps, wireframes, user cases, brand briefing, design and web development, you’re then ready to approve your website to be launched to the public. At this moment moving forward, you find yourself exposed to the web with your new spiffy site to show off; hopefully your site is filled with all sorts of bells and whistles: flash animation, real-time data, efficient use of contact information collected online, etc. When your new website launches, expect to feel excitement and relief that your old, hideous site is no longer an eye-sore to your potential customers or a hindrance to employee morale (ie: “The company’s great, but our website is terrible.”) .

No longer distracted by the inherent enjoyment that comes with a new website, the following question will soon float to the top of your head and tip of your tongue: Now what?

What sort of obligation to manage site content has been created? Ideally, this question is considered and answered in the early planning stages of your site, certainly before any design or web development starts.

If your website is for a high end apartment complex, then what content changes regularly: unit availability, special offers, staff (moderate turn-over), unit pricing, building features. In all hope, the actual floor plans won’t need to be changed, as they should remain constant; although I must admit, the accuracy of floor plans online remains questionable. At best, never rely strictly on an online floor plan in making a decision on where to live, as there is a fair chance the floor plan is not actual or fully representative of the unit’s layout and size. Often it is the case, that marketing receives one version of the floor plans to use for the website, and the version provided might not be final since often times the building and website are both “going up” at the same time.

On the other hand, if your website is an online version of a print publication, then your content is likely of various types, all of which are updated at some regular pace. How can you handle updating this content?

One option, arguably the best option, would have required foresight and early decision to implement a full-scale content management solution (CMS) that allows you, in short, to update your website with having little to no web programming knowledge. Many in the industry call this a WYSIWIG editor (What You See Is What You Get), a tool that requires a little more proficiency than using Microsoft Word.

If you didn’t plan for, or if budget didn’t allow for a CMS or if your website’s content didn’t call for a content management solution, then you’ll need to keep in touch with at least a web developer and ideally a designer/flash developer. Relationships with these two types of vendors/resources will prove instrumental in updating your website’s content, while still maintaining or improving the quality of design of your website.

It is critical to maintain a team of people who understand your website and are willing to preserve and improve its aesthetic and content value.

You’ll also always want to know the answers to the following questions about your website:
1. Where is it hosted?

2. Who has access to the web site’s files?

3. Who has access to any sensitive information on the website?

4.What are ALL the logins to my website?

5. Who owns my domain(s)?

6. Who controls my DNS?

7. What is the account information for any vendor who is an active agent in my website’s existence?

8. How quickly can revisions be made?

9. What is the cost with associated revisions?

10. How often can revisions be made?

11. Who knows the most about the website? Find out, and never let go of that person.

More often than not, I have seen many clients ill-informed on the details to any of the eleven questions listed above.

In conclusion, it’s important to pay equal attention to the creation of your website up to site-launch with the maintenance of your website post site-launch. If budget allows, odds are your new website is a product of heavy investment in cost and time; as with any such commitment, it is imperative to set the appropriate guardrails and plan to maintain and improve the initial investment put forth in order to realize a true, continued return on investment on your website.