Why maintain your website? And how to do it?
Summary: Accurate and up-to-date information promotes trust. Websites with obvious discrepancies and errors drive potential customers away. So keeping a website up-to-date is good for business.
Websites can be updated in various ways, from simple-to-use systems up to full CMS’s, with the greater flexibility of the website designer/developer suiting many with infrequent, and variable, needs.
Maintaining a website is good for business
The world does not stand still. What was accurate when the website was first published will increasingly conflict with information available elsewhere.
Discrepancies create uncertainty in customers minds, which inhibits action. Worse, in the minds of those who increasingly rely on information from the Web, a website with poor information is one to be avoided.
In contrast, consistently accurate and up-to-date information promotes customers’ trust in who they are dealing with. It is visible confirmation of an active company, one that is adapting and reacting appropriately to the world around it. And who, in all probability, will do the same with them.
Updating the website yourself
Simple systems
A simple system could allow you to make frequent updates to limited information (e.g. announcements of your latest offers). And, only needing limited capabilities, it is also more straightforward to use.
Intermediate systems
A little more complex are off-the-shelf tools such as Macromedia’s Contribute.
More complex systems
For larger websites and organisations, a full-blown CMS (Content Management System) may be best. However, they are not without their problems, which are well illustrated in the essay “Making a better CMS” by Jeffrey Veen of Adaptive Path.
Where the website designer may work best
When you aren’t sure what you might change, how often, and how much, then opting for the most flexible method, the website designer, is probably the best choice, at least to begin with. Often, after a few months of operation, the practicalities and what usually needs changing are much clearer.
Apart from flexibility, there are other advantages to the designer/developer:
- Advice about exactly what to update. If it is romjon.com, in-depth business experience informs the suggestions.
- Responsibility for the consistency and quality of the changes, and the smooth running of the website.
Want to know more?
Then why not call Romily Jones on the telephone number given below, or contact us.
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