How ‘maintainable’ is your website?

Given the comments on many of my blogs, it appears that I am perceived as something of a “design basher”.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

Nothing appeals, entices, engenders trust and ultimately sells as much as great design for a website.

However, I’m more than happy to be perceived as a “bad design basher”. And this blog is about a new pattern in website design – that of poor “maintainability”.

Less designer maintenance = lower website expenses

What I mean by maintainability is that the design of your website allows for easy maintenance on behalf of the business operator or their staff, while not compromising its professional look, usability and so on.

This issue is less of a problem for larger organisations who are likely to have a team of web professionals at their disposal.

But smaller organisations have much smaller web maintenance budgets and some have none at all. So the notion of going back to their expensive web designer every time they want to make simple alterations to their site is both impractical and unfair, given that good content management systems are now so affordable and in some cases no cost at all.

But in practice few designers get this balance of aesthetics and maintainability right.

Few designers get it right

In recent times I’ve let designers have “their head” when it comes to creating enticing websites without the input of a less creative and more practical soul.

Unfortunately, what many have come back with takes nothing less then a design and/or computer science degree to alter the website and retain a professional look.

In other words, an impost on the unsuspecting business operator client that they won’t necessarily be aware of until they need to make a significant change to their website.

The cynic in me supposes that this practice is quite deliberate, so as to ensure you return to them for these relatively expensive changes (repeat business).

But to give them the benefit of the doubt, let’s assume they are honest mistakes.

Aesthetics just one (important) part of the puzzle

The best designers understand that aesthetics is just one small part of the design jigsaw which not only includes maintainability but also usability and accessibility – particularly for those who have slower connections, lower screen resolutions or a disability.

This “holistic” approach not only ensures that the resulting website looks great, but is easy to navigate, enhances its content and is easy for the business operator to maintain.

Unfortunately, comparatively few websites achieve this balance.

So how can you avoid this potentially expensive scenario?

Avoiding design and maintenance pitfalls

The best way is to be very specific when briefing your web professional about your new website. Tell them exactly which areas are going to need to be changed regularly by you or your staff. It’s then up to them to provide you with site concepts that meet your criteria.

If a designer tells you that it is impossible to come up with a design that allows you to maintain the content without ruining the design, tell them to think again – they are just being lazy (or trying to maximise your future expenditure with them).

And definitely do not accept that the vast bulk of your website cannot be maintained easily, because it can.

I’ve heard lots of stories from business operators who have been locked into expensive website maintenance programs or situations. If this sounds like you, let’s hear your story by making a comment below.

For more Internet Secrets, click here.

Craig Reardon is a leading eBusiness educator and founder and director of independent web services firm The E Team which provide the gamut of ‘pre-built’ website solutions, technologies and services to SMEs in Melbourne and beyond.