Workshop on Bridging Communication and Information Gaps
7 August 2009, Damai Beach Resort Santubong
Good Practices in
MAINTAINING WEBSITES
Tn Hj Syahrul Nizam Junaini
Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Computer Science and IT, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
syahruln@fit.unimas.my
www.unimas.my

www.unimas.my
Presentation Goals
To know importance of web site maintenance.
To understand common misconception in web
design process.
Discuss five main site maintenance best practices.

www.unimas.my
Last updated on…
http://www.moma.sarawak.gov.my
http://www.saratokdc.sarawak.gov.my
http://www.kuchingro.sarawak.gov.my

www.unimas.my
www.moma.sarawak.gov.my
Last Updated: November, 2008

www.unimas.my
www.saratokdc.sarawak.gov.my
Last Updated: 24/2/2009

www.unimas.my
www.kuchingro.sarawak.gov.my

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Common misconception
Creating your website is “most of the work.”
Maintaining website is the larger challenge in
successful web presence.
Content and graphics need to change on a regular
basis to sustain use and traffic.
This requires organizational commitment.

www.unimas.my
Waiting for complaints?
Unprofessional.
Hard to manage workload.
Often would have been
easier to fix earlier.

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Why site maintenance?
To know what's going on.
Fix problems before they cause harm.
Provide your boss with facts and
figures about what you do.

www.unimas.my
Site maintenance best practices
Staffing
Domain Content
Hosting Technical

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Staffing
Consider budget of time and money.
Designate a specific staff person (SPOC).
Have organizational survey on a regular basis.

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Content
Develop an action calendar.
Freshness
– new graphics as frequently as possible.
– remove/archive out-of-date events.
– encourage repeat traffic.
Have “quick response” content ready.
Plan new contents for various campaign evolutions.

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Give impression that you are current
"Copyright © 2002 My Business Inc.“ – in 2009?

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High quality content
Completeness
Comprehensiveness
Richness of information
Conciseness
Multilingualism/accessibility
Authority/responsibility
Uniqueness

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Technical
Test for compatibility with new browser releases.
Security and upgrades of software.
Backup procedures.

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Web hosting
Hosting your own site is like having an electronic pet
– needs 24/7 supervision.
Selecting a host
– disk storage
– bandwidth limits
– email
– security
– traffic analysis tools

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Domain name
Essential internet real estate.
Organizational activity take place within domains.
– never let staff email from personal accounts
– registrant email contact addresses must be current
Consider buying .org, .com, .net variants.
Registering for multiple years (locking).

www.unimas.my
Action plan
Give a value
– 1 (Low priority)
– 2 (Mid priority)
– 3 (High priority)
Criteria Priority Date
Staffing
Content
Technical
Hosting
Domain

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Keep monitoring your site
Visit log
Any complains
Rivals?

Thank you!
www.syahrulnizam.com
facebook.com/syahrulnjunaini
twitter.com/syahruljunaini
www.unimas.my

www.unimas.my
References
Web Sites For Advocacy and Community Organizing:
Basics, Essenttials, and Best Practices
www.aspirationtech.org/downloads/training/eadvocacy/web/08_WebsiteMaintenance_v1_2.pdf

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Copyright
Some of the text, logos, images and photos are
trademarks, copyrights and property of their
respective owners.