Imagine Communications’ art director provides list of things to look for when updating
HENDERSON, Nev. – A company can spend a lot of time and money developing a strong website, so it’s sometimes difficult to admit it’s time to make updates. And when a business owner does decide it’s time, do they overhaul the entire site or just update parts of it?
“A website is a big investment in your company,” said Cynthia Carbajal, art director for Henderson, Nevada-based Imagine Communications. “A lot of money and time can go into the original build of a website, but it shouldn’t stop there. I am often asked ‘How do I know when it’s time to rebuild my website?’ The answer is, if you maintain your site it can last forever. Perhaps not literally forever, but the lifespan can be increased considerably. More often than not, once we are contacted for website updates, a complete overhaul is necessary because the site hasn’t been maintained.”
Established in 2000, Imagine Communications is a full-service marketing and communications firm that provides strategic business planning, public relations, advertising, video production, consulting and government affairs services to clients nationwide.
Some see website maintenance as just another extra monthly/quarterly expense, an unnecessary upsell, but just like a car, a website needs to be maintained to keep it working and up-to-date, Carbajal added.
Therefore, Carbajal provided a list of things to look for when updating a website:
- Broken links
- Outdated contact information
- Incorrect staff information
- Typos
- Missing or poor-quality images
- Pages that load slowly
- News stories that need to be posted
- Portfolio pieces that need to be added or removed
- Objects or text that have shifted or moved, or anything else that doesn’t look like it should
- Services or products that have been added or discontinued
Carbajal also mentioned the importance of regularly checking for errors after a site is launched or re-launched and making updates as needed.
“Technology is constantly advancing and if your website isn’t consistently evolving, it will become obsolete,” Carbajal said. “After a matter of weeks, coding updates will need to be made, and if those updates aren’t made, the site will slowly deteriorate. With back-end maintenance and regular content updates – which are also great for SEO – you can easily keep your website going for years. So instead of overhauling your site every one to two years, I suggest monthly maintenance and at least quarterly content updates to keep it fresh and new.”
For more information, call 702-837-8996, visit www.weareimagine.com, follow the company on Facebook or Twitter, or check out the company blog or the company online newsroom.