19/02: But the Print goes on…and on
I just received a long awaited package (more long underwear) from my assistant back home. In it was a note that I wanted to share with my friends as an important internet lesson:
“Dear Mr Archer, Sorry for the delay with these. I picked up a Priority Mail envelope which had instructions on how to print my own postage online. One look at the queue in the post office was all it took to get me back to the office to try out the online postage.
You wouldn’t believe this- the URL printed on the envelope IN BIG BOLD LETTERS was wrong! I’m betting it was changed since this was printed, but you wouldn’t believe my frustration in trying to find where I needed to go. Again, my apologies.�
I fully understand web updates. New technologies come along which require changes to URLs. But if you are going to spend money advertising a specific web address, please support it for a reasonable amount of time. The envelope my assistant used didn’t look old, but that isn’t the point.
You don’t need to manage every old web address on your site, simply the ones that you print on something that could hang around for a while. Printed materials can hang around for a while. So here are my quick tips when printing web addresses:
- Create a simple excel sheet of published web addresses. Have people add URLS and a brief description.
- If a page needs to be changed that is on that list, implement a redirect to the new page
- If the page references something that is no longer offered, such as a retired product, create a page stating that, offering alternatives from you or other companies
- Update your standard 404 page not found error page to list top pages on the site. Start with your site map at a minimum.
All the best from Torino!
