Have you ever visited a Web site that you thought would be useful only to find that the information wasn't current? One of the keys to owning a successful Web site is to regularly update information on your site. Introduce new content, update out-of-date content, and test the site to make sure it is fully functional after you update it. Updating your site periodically keeps your site fresh and attractive to your readers, keeping them coming back.

Decide on the Frequency of Updates

The type of content on your Web site dictates how often you should update it. Consider your audience, content, and schedule. Once you determine the frequency, use Publisher to publish your revisions. Here are some scenarios to guide you:

• If you sell goods or services over the Web, update your site regularly, based on how frequently you expect customers to visit your site. Schedule updates, for example, to coincide with the announcement of new products or services, or to feature a different product or sale each month.
• If you distribute information within an organization or group that shares a common interest, revise your site based on how frequently new information is available. If in a week you collect enough new information to add significantly to your site, for example, then update your site on a weekly basis.
• If you have a personal site, update it based on seasonal events and milestones, such as holidays, vacations, graduations, and birthdays, or when new pictures are available.

Update Your Site

You can easily update a Web site created and saved as a .pub file in Publisher. Simply open your publication (.pub) file, make the changes you want, and then publish (see Publishing Your Publisher 2000 Web Site ) the site again to the Web. Update the following elements of your Web site:

Text   Your audience will want to know what's new with the latest update. Tell them.

Graphics   New or updated graphics (see Using Graphics on Your Publisher 2000 Web Site ) lend a fresh look to your site. They also serve as an additional visual cue to your users that there has been a change.

Hyperlinks   Are there new sites your audience may enjoy or benefit from that you discovered or that were created since your last site update? Either list them or link (see Making the Most of Hyperlinks in Publisher 2000 ) to them. As a courtesy, get permission from the owner of the site before linking to them.

Revised date   Use a "last revised" date so that readers know at a glance if your site was updated since their last visit.

It is important to keep some elements the same from update to update so that your Web site has a consistent look and feel. Those elements may include your logo, banner, navigation bar, or the location of specific types of information, such as how to contact you.

Test and Save the Updated Web Site

After you change the elements on your site that you want to update, test your site and then save it as a .pub file.

Test your Web site   If your audience comes back to your site only to find it broken in some way, they may not stay long. Prevent this situation by testing your site each time you publish it to the Web.

Save your revised Web site as a .pub file   If you want to use Publisher to update your Web site at a later time, you must save your Publisher Web site as a .pub file regardless of the publishing method you use. Although you can use Publisher 2000 to generate your Web site as an HTML file, you can't open HTML files in Publisher. Therefore, the only way to update your site is to edit your .pub file and then republish it.

Regular updates - whether they're weekly, monthly, or several times a year - help you build a relationship with your audience. If you continue to refresh your site regularly, readers will keep returning.