Hook, Line & Thinker newsletter, published by Troutdream Graphics - September, 2003

Keeping it fresh

I usually don't use this newsletter to talk about commercial products, but this month I am making an exception. It is so important to be able to keep the content fresh on your website. Visitors won't value your business more than you do and a site that stays the same month after month gives the message that you don't think it's very important. One of the problems with the Web is that there are so many "cobwebs" - sites that look fine, but have been basically abandoned by their owners. How do you let people know that yours is a vibrant, active business? Frequent updates is one good way. Unfortunately, in the past updating a site required tools and skills that were expensive and time-consuming to learn. And unless you are fairly adept, it's easy to wreck a page or make a mistake that it's hard to undo. Also, what do you do if you need to share proposed changes with a geographically dispersed team before publishing the new or changed page? If more than one person is contributing to a site, how do you make sure you don't overwrite each other's changes? Of course you can (and still can) pay an expert to maintain your site for you - after all, the most valuable use of your time is on YOUR business.

But now there is a good software solution that makes basic site updating so simple, I feel comfortable recommending it to you. It's Contribute by Macromedia. Reasonably-priced at $99, it is both powerful and easy to use. You don't need to be an html or ftp wiz to use it. You don't need to worry about "wrecking" pages. Once your site is set up (and your administrator can do that for you remotely) you simply browse to the page you want to change, click the "edit page" button and make your changes. You can also create new pages easily. Once you've made your changes you can view them in a browser, publish them, save them, or send them out for review - Contribute will make a draft copy of the page on your server that your team can look at and approve before you flip the switch. It also keeps several previous versions, so you can roll it back if you change your mind.

I know this sounds like a commercial and I guess it is, though I don't mean it that way. It all boils down to good, basic principals of doing business on the web. If you have an easy way to keep your site fresh, you are more likely to do it. And keeping it fresh is a good way to show your customers that you are passionate about your business and committed to providing them with the best information and service that you can. (I wrote this newsletter using Contribute.)

Click here to to go to Macromedia. The link will also be on TroutDream's home page if you misplace this newsletter.

If you have a web-related question, drop me a line. If I don't know the answer, I'll find out.

You can find other articles and past issues of this newsletter at http://www.troutdream.com/stories.html

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