Steve Franklin has been working with Internet and related technologies for over a decade. His day job involves architecture and project engineering responsibilities at a major software firm dealing with J2EE, client/server, command & control and other distributed architectures. Steve Franklin's primary "off-hours" hobby can be found at lookoff.com, a repository for Internet and researching information and resources
Many of us invest tremendous time and energy into building Web sites. We slave into the late hours getting the site just right, and then step back to enjoy the fruits of our labor. However, over time, many Web sites start to wear down and break, just like old and poorly maintained houses. A few tools and bits of preventative maintenance can keep this from happening. While we won't review all site killers —unintuitive site structure, lack of focus, length URLs -- we'll show a few tools that can keep your existing Web site in good shape.
Let's face it -- maintaining a site isn't nearly as fun as creating it in the first place. But what's the point in building a site and letting it deteriorate until it's no longer attractive or useful to viewers? There are a number of signs of Web neglect that could discourage users from returning, including:
But for every potential killer, there's a probable solution. Let's look at these problems close up.
Faulty content will kill you every time. Some sites start very strong, but then over time show signs of weakness. But a few tools can help you to ensure information that you add adheres to the same quality that you'd expect from other sites.
We all make mistakes—coding bugs are a dime a dozen. A good testing process can help you avoid this (see the "Test and Retest" discussion on this site for some tips). Invariably, some bugs will still sneak through and it would be nice to catch them. Some tools will test your code to ensure it adheres to standards. Others will check pages on your sites periodically to ensure that they're being generated as you'd expect—without PHP, database, or ASP code errors mixed in with the text. Consider the following for trapping coding errors:
Spelling errors and poor grammar can both detract from a site. Bad writing is difficult to read, and users quickly go elsewhere. Large sites can afford editors and technical reviewers for much of their content, but your average site is maintained by a small team that doesn't enjoy this same luxury. Luckily, there are some tools that simplify this process.
I remember hearing someone say, "I don't have to worry about supporting Mac browsers because Mac users never visit my site." If your site is broken or incredibly ugly to a Mac user, I assure you that they won't explore or ever revisit your site. If you want to ensure a broad audience, you need to confirm that your site works across platforms, browsers, and computer configurations (e.g. resolution/color). Here are a few tools to try:
Very few Web sites can accomplish their task with a single, self-contained page. Consequently, we have to worry about links and navigation throughout the site. Getting this wrong can be very costly—few things annoy your viewers more than missing pages.
There really is no excuse for broken links on your site. Too many tools and strategies are readily available to help you catch these problems before other users see them.
Slow sites are incredibly frustrating for your audience. Particularly when a reader visits your site for the first time, studies show that users have very little tolerance for a slow download. Performance is typically a combination of many factors: page design, Internet bandwidth, user modem speeds, and server performance. You have control over some of these factors, so be sure that they're tailored to your advantage.
Latency can be defined as the delay between request and response. Even for a 10-byte Web page, there will be a fairly constant delay that takes place due to Internet and Web server speeds. Latency is most frustrating to high-bandwidth (e.g. DSL, cable, T1+) users who stare at that "Web Site Found, Waiting For Reply..." message in their browser's status bar with great disdain. As the page downloads, the reader often has very little to do but watch the download progress bar. The shorter the download time, the better.
Although many tools will test download speeds for your site, some simulate hundreds or thousands of users to see how your system stands up to high traffic. Here are a few to try:
We've covered a few of the useful tools that I've used in the past to ensure sites are up and running. Admittedly, I haven't used them on every site I've worked on—but I should have. Some of these tools are quite high-end, and can cost more than a developer's annual salary. Most of us don't need the expensive tools, but it's still good to be aware of them. Meanwhile, try out some of the other freeware and shareware alternatives available to you. If I've missed any that you feel belong in this list, feel free to drop me a line at steve@lookoff.com.
Steve Franklin has been working with Internet and related technologies for over a decade. His day job involves architecture and project engineering responsibilities at a major software firm dealing with J2EE, client/server, command & control and other distributed architectures. Steve's primary "off-hours" hobby can be found at lookoff.com, a repository for Internet and researching information and resources.