First Aid For Your Website - May 2001
By Jim Norris

Is your website healthy and vital or a little tired or approaching death? This article will show you several ways to make your site more alive and keep it that way.

   Download Time

   One way to have visitors not enter your site and to keep them not coming back, is to have pages, particularly your home page, take forever to download. This is caused by images (GIFs or JPEGs) that are too numerous or too large. Clear the cache on your browser and using an average connection (not Cable or a T1 line), load your home page and time it with a stop watch or a watch with a second hand. It should not take any longer than 12-15 seconds. If it does, analyze your images and get rid or move any that are not absolutely necessary. For those that are left, reduce their size by changing the resolution. A handy online tool for doing this is Spinwave (www.spinwave.com) that offers an online and desktop version for "crunching" GIF and JPEG files. Another solution is to break problem pages into 2 or more pages, thus making each faster to download.

   Spelling

   Nothing appears more amateurish than bad spelling. Print out your pages before uploading and have someone with good language skills proof-read them. Even though it won't catch everything, use the spell-checker in your text editor or web page creation program. You can check your spelling and many other page elements at www.websitegarage.com.

   HTML

   Many HTML errors will become apparent when you load your page into a browser. Other elements, not so obvious, are essential when you are submitting your site to search engines. Make sure that your title, headings and alt tags all contain a variety of keyword in addition to being descriptive. Some search engines (ones that don't use meta tags) use the first few sentences of your body text for a description. Make sure the body text exists (some sites have no text on the home page) and that it contains relevant keywords. Ensure that your page has meta tags for a description and keywords since several of the major search engines use meta tags for searches and to display a description. Visit www.netmechanic.com to analyze HTML problems.

   Links

   If your site has links to other websites, make sure these links are checked on a regular basis. Check them by hand or use a link checker such as www.website-tools.com. Is a link is dead and you feel the site still exists, use a search engine to try and find its new address.

   Freshness

   Content on your site must be changed and added to on a regular basis - at least once a month. Visitors will not return to a site that never changes.

   Navigation

   Important elements on your site should be easy to find and be available from any page. Pages can be broken down into smaller units or sometimes connected pages should be combined. Have a person who knows nothing about your subject matter check your site to see if your plan makes sense. A site map is sometimes helpful as is a search facility.

   Change content often

   Make sure your content is updated regularly (at least once a week) and that you are constantly adding new features.

   A little bit of effort on a regular basis will attract new visitors to your site and keep them coming back.

Resources

• TASCAM has debuted www.mx2424.com, a new web site for the MX2424 hard disk recorder. In addition to news and information, visitors can access the TASCAM online forum, download software updates and manuals and locate technical information.
• Zildjian has introduced an educational web site, a valuable resource for percussion education. The site includes a News and Events section, a Teaching Aids area, Educator Profiles, a calendar of Clinics and Camps, an Instrument Guide and a guide to Continuing Percussion Education. Visit the site at www.zildjian.com/edu.
• Beyerdynamic has completely revised its web site at www.beyerdynamic.com. The site features news and product information, a new search function, the ability to view products in JPG or PDF format, product white papers and a company history.
• Guitar collectors will find information on Canada's Vintage Guitar Show to be held in Toronto, June 2-3. Information on the Show including directions, as well as pictures from last year's show are featured on their site at www.tundramusic.com.
• If your favourite search engine doesn't always yield the results you want, download Copernic at www.copernic.com. Copernic searches 20 searches and is available in a free version and two paid versions.
• If you are planning to visit North By Northeast in Toronto, June 7-9, drop by their website at www.nxne.com. A schedule and a list of seminars are included for the Conference and information on over 400 bans showcasing at 27 Toronto venues.
• Music Books Plus has greatly expanded their catalogue and now features online over 4,000 books, videos and CD-ROMs on music, recording, audio, songwriting, MIDI, multimedia and the Internet. You can join the electronic newsletter or request a printed catalogue online at www.musicbooksplus.com.
• Norris-Whitney Communications operates The Music & Audio Connection, the international on-line resource for music enthusiasts, musicians, music and audio professionals. Included are classified ads, products for sale, company showcases, discussion forums, associations, music education, music & audio resources, career information and file libraries. New additions are the Calendar Plus personal information systems and Music News, updated daily. Updates to the site are available by electronic newsletter. Visit at musicandaudio.com. For more information, e-mail to [email protected], Fax (905) 641-1648 or call (905) 641-3471.