A website maintenance program isn't just something a web designer tries to sell you to make some extra money. If your site is not updated regularly, visitors will assume you have nothing new to share with them and they will not bother to return. If you do not occasionally offer new information or resources, your visitors will not have any reason to come back.  What's worse, you may lose them as a potential customer.  No matter how well designed and well publicized your site is, if you don't maintain it, it will decline in popularity and eventually in search engine rankings.

The two basic, primary things to keep in mind in all web maintenance is

• Update your content regularly to keep your website content current and fresh. Whether you change your content or add to it, regular updates are an important part of maintenance, which generates new visitors and keeps old ones interested.
• Visit and use your website regularly. It's important to take a regular "tour" of your website as a visitor would, to spot broken links, see how your site looks in different browsers, or see if there are any other areas to fix or optimize.

Keeping your website current is best accomplished if you establish a plan and procedures - better known as a web maintenance program. In setting up a website maintenance plan, here are some things to keep in mind ..

• Develop a procedure for submitting information for the site.
• Every time you update, post the date of your latest update on the web site to help users know how current the information is.
• Establish a routine for updating the site. Don't forget that keeping the content and images current gives credibility to the site and to your business.
• Ask others to review the site periodically.
• Backup all of your files on a regular basis.
• If more than one person has access to the server, establish clear version control procedures so that you are always updating the most current version of the site.

Keep in mind that updating and maintaining a website does not necessarily mean deleting old pages.  Every time you delete a page, you frustrate those who have linked to that page or who have bookmarked it. Often outdated information still has value.