Monitor Your Web Site

By David Rourk, Rourk Public Relations

Web sites are a primary communications tool. They are 24-hour commercials, and businesses must treat them as such.

Remember to frequently monitor the information. The number of people authorized to add information to the site determines how often it should be proofread. If the Norfolk Naval Safety Center's Web site had this policy in place, they would not have displayed private data for 100,000 pilots and crewmembers on the site for the last six months.

The posting was an accident -- it happens. Good public relations policies, such as monitoring your web site, would have immediately caught it.

The cost -- another negative, front-page article for the Navy.

Web sites are a window to your targeted audiences, competitors and the media. They should maintain a relevant message and be free of grammatical or factual errors. Check for subtle but damaging edits by hackers, and broken links which hurt search engine optimization results.

Since reporters use Web sites as information sources, yours should be accurate and positive. A finely tuned Web site projects professionalism and credibility.

Keep your Web site in tiptop shape and stay on your toes -- the world is ALWAYS watching you now.