You've invested the time to create great looking, compliant web pages. Now what? Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance. You'll find that just as it is well worth your time and money to create an attractive, compliant website that is search engine friendly, you've got to maintain your site to keep it that way.

Your website is a reflection of you and/or your business. What does your website say about you? Missing or broken links, outdated information, and missing images are just a few of the things that can make your site look unprofessional, as well as affect your search engine ranking.

Your webmaster may offer maintenance services, but here are seven steps that you can perform yourself to make sure your web pages are ? and remain - W3C compliant.

1. Each time you change a page, be sure to update the keywords. You may be adding something or changing text and you want to make sure your keywords reflect the changes.

2. Keep the html/xhtml code clean and remove old code when not in use. Cluttered or improper html code will have an adverse effect on your search engine rankings.

3. Color schemes can date your site. Adjust the colors of your site as they become outdated, and keep in mind that different monitors pick up colors differently.

4. When pages are changed, always check the links to make sure they work, and check for outdated links. Links that don't work make your site look unprofessional, and visitors won't stay long if it doesn't look like your site is up to date.

5. Be sure to keep current backup copies of all of your web pages on your computer or an external backup drive. None of us plans for technical difficulties or site crashes, but we all know they can happen. Don't leave your business at the mercy of your webhosting account. By keeping copies of your web pages, you will be able to shorten the amount of time it takes to get back up and running in case of a calamity.

6. Always check changes to your site with at least 2 browsers; for example Internet Explorer and Firefox. You may be surprised at the differences you see.

7. Review your pages after making changes to be sure that they look the way you want them to. Also be sure to validate the code and validate the CSS each time you make changes.

Keeping your site fresh, updated, and working properly will ensure not only more traffic, but more returning traffic. So take the time to review and maintain your website regularly.