A website is a living thing that needs TLC - Tender Loving Care - to grow. All too often we see sites launched with a huge amount of backing and resource; only to be left to wither and die through neglect soon afterwards, writes James Varga.

For websites to be effective it is imperative that they are continually maintained, updated and improved to meet the demands of a changing marketplace.

Taking a cause and effect approach is a useful way to help your website grow. You can monitor the immediate reaction of the market place to any change you make and measure the impact of that change. Conversely you can measure the impact of no change.

Here is a short checklist of the things you should have in place before moving forward:

• Start with a plan: Have a clear website maintenance plan
• Identify your goals: Make sure these are clear and easily tracked
• Track activity: Include both website traffic and conversions/actions
• Understand your audience: As well as what you are presenting to them
• Be prepared: To change and adapt to the changing audiences and environment
• Commitment: Be committed to making this a part of your business

Once the groundwork is in place you can then move forward. Start by making a monthly commitment to review the website looking at traffic usage, outdated content, types of enquiries and even the competition. Having regular measurements and reviews provide a benchmarking mechanism so that you can consistently measure the impact of any improvements or changes to the site.

There are a number of free tools that allow you to track and measure your effectiveness including Google Analytics and Page Ranking. Use these tools to give you the information you need. Identify clear goals, calls to action and conversions and track these. Understanding how and when you achieve these goals will help you focus future efforts. If you are unsure about the results then try different things, but be clear about what you're doing so that you can measure its effect and know quickly if it's something you should keep doing. All this is not only possible, but relatively easy with the help of a few simple tools.

In respect to the search engine optimisation (SEO) buzz in the marketplace, maintenance plays an critical role. Updating your site with new and changing content will have a dramatic effect on your SEO performance. This is seen both objectively by search engines rating higher for changing content as well as subjectively through potential links and references to your new content.

It's important to make your website work for you, for it to be part of your daily awareness and activity, if it's critical to your business. If not, then make it easy to update and maintain. There is no point in putting up news articles if you only update them once a year.

A website should never stand still. It must evolve and adapt to its changing environment. But to do that it needs constant care. Give it the attention it needs and it will grow and deliver the results you expect from it.

About the author
James Varga is agency director of lightershade.com.