Five checks for web pages.
By Dianne Reuby
There are a few essential checks that you must make before uploading
your pages.
Check the basics - Spelling, grammar, terminology. I've
seen a lot of arguments for and against using only US spelling
on web sites - I think this is a personal choice, but having
made your decision, be consistent! Terminology - don't use words
or phrases that aren't common around the world. I read a software
review recently - sadly, I didn't understand the phrase used
to describe the program, so I don't know if the reviewer was
recommending it or condemning it!
Check your coding - It's easy for little mistakes to
creep into your HTML - especially when your tags are nested,
or when you copy and paste from another page of your site. There
are several free programs available - I use CSE Lite from http://www.htmlvalidator.com
which also has a paid professional version.
Check your links - Again, it's easy to make a slight
mistake in typing a URL, or getting confused between relative
and absolute references, leading to the well-known **404 page
not found** message! Use a link check program to find all these
little errors before you launch your page on the world. I use
Xenu's Link Check which I downloaded from
http://www.completelyfreesoftware.com
- you'll find many other freeware link checkers.
Check your files - It's easy to upload a new HTML page,
and forget to upload any additional graphics, leaving the visitor
with a blank square. I find this especially easy when I'm just
using an icon such as **New!** or **Free** - so I keep these
in a directory on my site called
**Common_Images** - that way, I know where they are, and don't
need to upload them for every page I add.
Check in more than one browser - You probably have a
favourite browser for surfing the web - but we're all different,
and all round the world people will be dismissing your choice
as **terrible!** So check on your hit counter stats - which
browsers are your visitors using? If you don't have room on
your hard drive for more than one browser, use one of the webmaster
forums to ask for a check from different browser users. http://webmaster-forums.com
http://siteownersforums.com
and http://sitepointforums.com
all have a forum for this. You're expected to review other members
sites in return.
Use these five checks every time you update your site, and you'll
have less chance of losing your visitors through simple mistakes.
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Dianne Reuby is author of the ebook "Searching the Web"
and co-author of the ebook "First Website Builder".
Dianne created and runs the Free Site Builder web site and ezine,
dedicated to helping newbies create web sites with free tools
and resources. Visit FSB at
http://freesitebuilder.co.uk
or email her at admin@freesitebuilder.co.uk
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