Weed Out Your Weak Links, Communicating Online Article

Adding or editing content on your web site often involves reworking your links - adding new links so visitors can find new content and editing current links to reflect changes in your site structure. Link management doesn't need to be a time-consuming chore. This checklist will lead you to tools and techniques for easy link management.

Lead visitors to your new content

Posting additional pages on your server is only part of the job - you need to also modify existing web pages so they include links to your new pages. Without these modifications, visitors may not even know your new content exists. Be sure to modify your site map, table of contents, and other standard links. If you update your site frequently, consider installing a "new additions" block on your home page.

Test your links

Bad links are bad customer service. Broken links and bad code tell visitors that you don't update your site much and don't care about wasting their time. Test both your internal navigation links, which lead visitors around your site, and the external links, which lead to other regions of the Internet:

Internal links
Test your navigation links when adding or modifying content. Double-check navigation links not only in your new content, but on your existing pages as well. New pages often mean outdated links and other navigation problems. If navigation is difficult, web surfers will leave.
External links
If you maintain a "links" page or have any other links to other Internet sites, this is a good time to check them and fix any broken links as well. Even if visitors are leaving your site, leave them with a good impression. Dead links won't attract many return visitors.

Announce your changes

Other web sites may have links to your pages. If your pages change, those links may cease to function, costing you incoming traffic and potentially annoying allied web site operators. If you remove or move content on your site, alert web site managers so that they can keep their links functioning and accurate.

You pay for online ads...
So make sure they work! Keep track of your ads and where they send traffic. Correct or pull any ads that would be affected by your content changes.

Workz.com's LinkCheck utility can examine individual pages or your entire site to track down broken and dead links, providing you with a complete report via the Internet.

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