How do you keep a website fresh? There is nothing worse than coming to a site and seeing that it hasn’t been updated in months or even years. Here’s some thoughts that I wrote in response to a client request on the subject and as a demonstration of one of my recommendations I am re-purposing my email as this blog.
It is important to have someone assigned to updating the site but it should also be a task that is shared by the whole team. The days of a “webmaster” holding the only key to a site are over. Everyone in an organization should have some kind of access to update different areas of the site. In my experience if someone doesn’t enjoy updating a website then it doesn’t get done very often or well.
A modern website is updated on a weekly or even daily basis as things change and evolve. The challenge is quality control. That is why I would advocate for someone in the organization to be the principal Quality Assurance person for the site. They would receive notifications of new content added by others and be able to “scrub” that content to be consistent with the rest of the site. Fight clutter.
Also, it helps to assign specific content tasks with deadlines- i.e. “Tom please submit 5 blog ideas by Friday and Mary please turn these into posts by next Wednesday”. Have monthly or even weekly meetings to discuss what content needs to be created. This would include a monthly newsletter I would hope. Then make assignments and use project management software (like Basecamp by 37 Signals) to have some accountability. Once the habits are created the site, as well as your social media and email outlets, will have a constant flow of quality content. This will improve traffic and hopefully lead to new opportunities for the organization.
Also, find ways to re-purpose content. If you have a message thread internally that might have relevance for a larger audience assign someone to turn that thread into a blog.
Which is how this blog got written!
