22: Ten Ways to Exterminate Web Bugs in Java

Print Code39 in Java 22: Ten Ways to Exterminate Web Bugs

finding computerized assistance to make your HTML pure as air, clean as the driven snow, and standards-compliant as, ah, really well-written HTML (Do we know how to mix a metaphor, or what ) Likewise, investigating the link checkers discussed earlier in the chapter is a good idea; use them regularly to check links on your pages These faithful servants tell you if something isn t current, so you know where to start looking for links that need fixing

Every time you change or update your Web site, you should test its functionality, run a spell check, perform a beta test, and otherwise jump through important hoops to put your best foot forward online But sometimes you ll make just a small change a new phone number or address, a single product listing, a change of name or title to reflect a promotion and you won t go through the whole formal testing process for just one little thing That s perfectly understandable, but one thing inevitably leads to another, and so on Plus, if you solicit feedback, chances are good that you ll get something back that points out a problem you d never noticed or considered before It s essential to schedule periodic Web site reviews, even if you ve made no big changes or updates since the last review Information grows stale, things change, and tiny errors have a way of creeping in as one small change succeeds another Just as you take your car in for an oil change or swap out your air-conditioning filter, you should plan to check your Web site regularly Most big organizations we talk to do this every three months or so; others do it more often Even when you think you have no bugs to catch, errors to fix, or outdated information to refresh, you ll often be surprised by what a review turns up Make this part of your routine, and your surprises will be less painful and require less work to remedy!

Who better to tell you what works and what doesn t than those who use (and hopefully, even depend on) your site Who better to say what s not needed and what s missing But if you want user feedback to feed your site s growth and evolution, you not only have to ask for it, you have to find ways to encourage it to flow freely and honestly in your direction, then act on it to keep the wellsprings working intact

Even after you publish your site, testing never ends (Are you having flashbacks to high school or college yet We sure are) You may not think of user feedback as a form (or consequence) of testing, but it represents the best reality check your Web pages are ever likely to get, which is why doing everything you can including offering prizes or other tangibles to get users to fill out HTML forms on your Web site is a good idea This reality check is also why reading all feedback you get is a must Go out and solicit as much feedback as you can handle (Don t worry; you ll soon have more) But the best idea of all is to carefully consider the feedback that you read and then implement the ideas that actually bid fair to improve your Web offerings Oh, and it s a really good idea to respond to feedback with personal e-mail, to make sure your users know you re reading what they re saying If you don t have time to do that, make some! Even the most finicky and picky of users can be an incredible asset: Who better to pick over your newest pages and to point out those small, subtle errors or flaws that they revel in finding Your pages will have contributed mightily to the advance of society by actually finding a legitimate use for the universal delight in nitpicking And your users can develop a real stake in boosting your site s success, too Working with your users can mean that some become more involved, helping guide the content of your Web pages (if not the rest of your professional or obsessional life) Who could ask for more Put it this way: You may yet find out, and it could be remarkably helpful

If you give to them, they ll give to you!

Sometimes, simply asking for feedback or providing surveys for users to fill out doesn t produce the results you want either in quality or in volume Remember the old days when you d occasionally get a dollar bill in the mail to encourage you to fill out a form It s hard to deliver cold, hard cash via the Internet, but a little creativity on your part should make it easy for you to offer your users something of value in exchange for their time and input It could be an extra month on a subscription, discounts on products or services, or some kind of freebie by mail (Maybe now you can finally unload those stuffed Gila monsters you bought for that trade show last year ) But there s another way you can give back to your users that might not even cost you too much An offer to send participants the results of your survey, or to otherwise share what you learn, may be all the incentive participants need to take the time to tell you what they think, or to answer your questions Just remember that you re asking your users to give of their time and energy, so it s only polite to offer something in return