How Will I Maintain My Website?
Firstly, not everyone wants to maintain their own website.
Some companies prefer a completely hands off approach; they prefer to have their website maintained for them. As some of our clients say “You do what you do best, and I’ll do what I do best” and they’ve never once logged into their website. That’s fine, and we do offer ongoing website maintenance and promotion services. But, that approach only works if you have a website maintenance budget.
If You Plan to Maintain Your Own Website; How Will You Maintain It?
There is only one correct answer. You will log into an admin page, enter a username and password, and you’ll type into a browser window and click the button to save changes. There is no other acceptable answer.
- “You’ll have to buy this software – but it’s only $150…” is not an acceptable answer.
- “You can use Dreamweaver or Frontpage or …” is not an acceptable answer.
- “Well, first you open Microsoft Word, then…” is not an acceptable answer.
- “Um, you’ll need notepad and an ftp program…” is not an acceptable answer.
In the past, before content management systems were readily available, some of those may have been acceptable answers. In 1997, people really did update websites in Microsoft Word. Surprised? It wasn’t ideal, but it worked. In 1998, people did write raw code in notepad and upload it via ftp. I did, too. I still use ftp and notepad – but the clients that update their own websites don’t have to.
Technology has changed. The web is more efficient for novices. Now you can…
- Upload and manage images in a click and use media gallery…
- Make links by pressing a button and pasting in the url…
- Add pages to your site by clicking a link that says “add a page” …
- Edit existing pages by clicking a link that say “edit this page”…
- Let ping technology submit your content to search engines for you…
- Let your RSS feed email website updates to subscribers for you….
- And do ALL of that right in a browser window!
If your website isn’t that easy to manage, the only question is why not?
But, you need to check in advance. Never assume that all website designers use the same techniques and technologies. They don’t. So, before you hire a designer, be sure to ask… How will I maintain my website?