Module 2 - Analyzing and Designing a Web Site
Site Maintenance
Though this may not appear to be important for this class project, this is a vitally important item to be considered during the analysis stage for any web site. When we speak of web site maintenance, we are talking about the process of keeping the information posted on the site up to date and accurate. This also includes regular checking of the site to be sure that links still work (especially any links that you include to other web sites).
Why is this so important? On the web, accuracy of your information is everything. Accurate information, good organization, and a technically working site allow the user to trust that your site is a good resource. If you have one page on your site that has old, outdated information, then the person viewing your site loses confidence in the accuracy of the rest of the site - they don’t trust your content anymore. Users tend to assume that if the content is wrong in one place, it may not be accurate anywhere. This also extends to the technical aspects of your site – if you have links that are broken, or images that don’t appear. If users make the conclusion that your site is sloppy based on these factors, it is not long before they assume the accuracy of your content is sloppy as well. Once the user has no confidence in your site, it has no usefulness to them.
Like respect, the credibility of your site is much easier to lose than it is to earn. This is why careful analysis of what information on your site will need to be updated, and how often, needs to be determined. Once you have this information, you can create a maintenance plan that will determine who will do the maintenance, and how often. Just like car insurance, you hope you don’t need it, but you have to have it.