The Website Survival Guide is provided to SOITS clients to assist you in maintaining your site. This is an abridged version, the complete document may be found in the Client Services section.

A business Website is not something you leave and forget; a business Website is your public shopfront and potential clients will quickly develop an impression of your business within seconds of arriving. If your site is still loading during these seconds you may have already lost a potential client.

To own a business Website is a liability in terms of upkeep and maintenance - if you fail to direct sufficient resources to your Website then it will quickly contribute to the demise of your business. SOITS wants your business to succeed and would like to support you during its continued growth.

Here are some tips:

DO

• use images that have been reduced in file size to speed page loading;
• have dynamic content so you at least give the impression that you are updating your site;
• ask family, friends or colleagues to critique your site - do not assume you know what looks or sounds ok. You may not incorporate the suggestions but at least you will have the opportunity to consider them; and
• consider layout and balance. Website layout extends beyond the layout of the page, but the individual content items as well. Do employ desktop publishing strategies, for example, wrap text around a small image rather than having a small image with white space either side and text above and below it. Your Website tools allow professional aesthetic layouts.

• have content on your site advertising dates that have lapsed;
• clutter your site - business Websites are typically elegantly plain - a potential client is likely to leave your site within the first minute if you fail to convey professionalism and a business manner;
• present visitors with unexpected content. For example, if you have an e-shop do not fill your front page with text, your visitors are expecting to see your online catalogue straight away. Move all text apart from introductory and important statements to a separate page;
• overuse Website technologies - potential clients should not feel as though they have arrived at an online gaming site; and
• use long pages, consider splitting long articles into multiple pages. A page should not exceed two screens.