2/10/08 - Michael Patrick Murphy
We constantly hear about the importance of keeping our websites fresh. There are too many good arguments for doing that and few against it.
- Don't over-hype (and thereby look like every other business website). We forget that there is someone looking beyond our hype and plenty of websites are already dedicated to exposing us.
- Folks are in a hurry, often already frustrated by search engines and endless "hyped" listings prior to finding you. Now, search engines, like Google, prostitute themselves to the highest bidder, biggest corporations or even to the whims of a controlling communist regime. Like water, we who travel the Internet, somehow, despite these attempts at controlling what we see, find the dirt.
- Do not create spam (unsolicited email) for any reason.
- You are, or soon will be a known entity on the Internet WHETHER YOU USE IT OR NOT. Illegal actions will get caught. Even borderline activities are usually not allowed by your Internet Service Providers, including domain registration and hosting entities. This includes foul language (whatever that is). Foul is subjective in this usage and is defined differently in different cultures. I know your freedom of speech has been tampered with, but this is the current reality. Others can see your email (and do). Law enforcement can watch you without telling you and without a formal warrant.
- Schedule website changes in a calendar to make sure your site does not stagnate.
- Be careful how you provide contact information.
- Make sure your policies are clearly listed on the website.
There are many benefits to using a talented designer. They have the abilities and contacts to forward your mission more safely and securely than most business owners realize. These aspects alone, should more than offset the costs. Ideally, you should have made your contact well before opening your business. Guess what, we've got one. See Member Services for more information.
When There is Too Much Change
Microsoft, Corporation changes its pages as often as it adds and deletes programs and marketing campaigns. Their pages are always changing and moving around, often with no link to find them. As each marketing program fails or burns out, the name of the pages change. Microsoft's website is so large, and so constantly changing, that you'll be lucky to find the thing you're looking for, even if you work for Microsoft and use their Intranet. No wonder the company seems so disheveled. The only page that hasn't changed is their home page and I doubt you can even get to a page your looking for from there. This happens most when a company grows too large, too fast. Everyone gets confused while the right hand not only doesn't know what the left hand does, but is not even sure that it exists.
This is the world we are looking at today, one with constant change, a shell game of websites and pages that can deceive us or move us from our focus. This is the dilemma for modern website designers. How do we keep sites fresh, yet consistent and honest. How do we enable them to cater to the focus of the viewer, market or staff member? The trick is in the planning. You plan websites for the future in away that maintains categorical links as much as possible. You might have an archival category for old stuff, while maintaining a link from the original location.
The Small Businessman is dedicated to forming partnerships with this understanding in mind. We must thread the needle for our site clients while they handle the part of their business that they do best. That art will be expressed in every thing we do and every breath we take.
Updated 2/12/08