{"id":5940,"date":"2013-05-16T08:20:56","date_gmt":"2013-05-16T13:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=5940"},"modified":"2013-05-16T08:20:56","modified_gmt":"2013-05-16T13:20:56","slug":"how-to-be-a-better-webmaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-better-webmaster\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Be a Better Webmaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"be<\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve put tons of effort into building your website so don\u2019t let your hard work go to waste by slacking off on your webmaster responsibilities!<\/p>\n

As a site owner, you owe it to yourself and to your business to be the best possible webmaster you can be. \u00a0The following are just a few of the activities that separate run-of-the-mill webmasters from great site managers. \u00a0Add them to your weekly routine and you\u2019re sure to see a difference in your website results.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tip #1 Update your website regularly<\/h3>\n

Having a website is great, but if you never update the site that you built initially, you\u2019re missing out on two very powerful webmaster benefits.<\/p>\n

The first is that regularly updated content whether published through an articles section, a blog or some other format helps to form a connection between your business and your target customers. \u00a0People feel much more confident interacting with and buying from sites that are regularly updated, versus those that clearly haven\u2019t been touched since their initial launch.<\/p>\n

At the same time, adding new content to your site on a regular basis confers a powerful SEO advantage that could lead to your site ranking higher in the natural search results. \u00a0This, in turn, leads to increased traffic and sales, providing a tangible benefit for your investment into updating your site regularly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tip #2 Run periodic usability tests<\/h3>\n

Whenever you make changes to your website (even if it\u2019s something as simple as changing a font color on your home page), you introduce the possibility of coding errors that can take down part or all of your site.<\/p>\n

For this reason, it\u2019s important to run periodic usability tests that identify any errors that may be inhibiting your site\u2019s functionality. \u00a0Usability tests can be as simple as previewing your website in different browsers using a tool like Browser Shots<\/a> or as complex as navigating through every page on your site in order to manually detect errors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tip #3 Manage broken links appropriately<\/h3>\n

\"managing<\/a><\/p>\n

In particular, keep an eye out for broken links when running your usability tests. \u00a0Internal or external links that refer visitors to pages that are no longer live (whether due to the movement of the page, the closure of the site or some other circumstance) both frustrate users and prevent the search engines\u2019 indexing programs from effectively cataloging the pages on your site.<\/p>\n

The easiest way to monitor for broken links is with the use of a plugin that automatically scans your pages for these failed connections (as in the case of the Broken Link Checker<\/a> plugin for WordPress), though you can test your links manually as well. \u00a0If you encounter broken links on your website, you can either remove the links or redirect your link to a different page entirely.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tip #4 Engage your community on social sites<\/h3>\n

As a webmaster, you can\u2019t live in a bubble and assume that all\u2019s well in the world just because your website is functioning properly. \u00a0Engaging in social media marketing is now a 'must do'\u009d for all webmasters, given the expectations of today\u2019s consumers and the SEO value that can be derived from social networking interactions.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, you don\u2019t need to be a social media guru to enjoy the benefits this type of marketing can bring about. \u00a0Start small by building a profile for your business on one of the top social media sites (including Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Pinterest) and make a commitment to post new content and engage with followers once a day. \u00a0Once this becomes routine, expand your social presence to other networks or delve more deeply into marketing strategy recommendations for the site you\u2019ve chosen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tip #5 Solicit user feedback to drive website changes<\/h3>\n

Finally, good webmasters recognize that their opinions on their websites are just that opinions. \u00a0Instead of building and managing their sites from this narrow point of view, these business owners ask their users for feedback and make changes based on this advice.<\/p>\n

As an example, a webmaster running an online jewelry store could send out a customer survey asking past purchasers about the products they\u2019d like to see added to the shop next. \u00a0Not only does this provide the webmaster with valuable market research on the products his customers are most likely to buy, it also demonstrates to customers that their opinions are valued making them more inclined to buy from the shop in the future.<\/p>\n

Truly, website management is an ongoing process that requires continuous commitment from site owners in order to maximize performance. \u00a0While it may sound daunting to add all these different tasks to \u00a0your webmaster 'to do'\u009d list, you\u2019ll likely find that the increased website traffic, higher sales and better natural search results rankings will be well worth your efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve put tons of effort into building your website so don\u2019t let your hard work go to waste by slacking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-web-and-hosting-tips"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Be a Better Webmaster - HostGator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-better-webmaster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Be a Better Webmaster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You\u2019ve put tons of effort into building your website so don\u2019t let your hard work go to waste by slacking...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-better-webmaster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HostGator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HostGator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-16T13:20:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/be-a-better-webmaster.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Taylor Hawes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HostGator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@HostGator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Taylor Hawes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-better-webmaster\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-better-webmaster\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Taylor Hawes\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0519034239a8d6785a8238586f2f2754\"},\"headline\":\"How to Be a Better Webmaster\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-16T13:20:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-16T13:20:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-better-webmaster\/\"},\"wordCount\":811,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-better-webmaster\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/be-a-better-webmaster.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Web Hosting Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-better-webmaster\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-better-webmaster\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-to-be-a-better-webmaster\/\",\"name\":\"How to Be a Better Webmaster - 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