Sometimes when I have completed a website for a client, I wonder if they are really using it correctly. With some clients, you can build them the coolest backend but they don’t use it to its fullest extent. It’s not that they are stupid, but perhaps something was overlooked which is making it difficult for the client.
If you give a client the tools to update a website themselves you’d like to hope they will actually take advantage of your hard work.
This is where I have found RSS handy in my latest project.
Use RSS to Spy on your Clients
Okay, so it’s not really spying… but the client I was dealing with is very new to computers. I had to make it as simple as possible for her use. I also wanted to make sure she was able to use it.
When I built the backend, I always had to keep in mind the ability of the client. But once you show the client your beautiful polished work, you can never really be sure what problems they will have when you’re not around.
By placing RSS feeds around the site I was able to track when the client was updating the website as they did it. I could check right away if they had made any mistakes.
Correcting Mistakes Early & Quickly Makes Happier Clients
I was able to ring my client up, correct a few things and educate the client from what I could see they needed improving on.
Because of RSS I knew right away she was updating the website so when I called her of course, she was right in front of the computer with the backend open ready to hear what I had to say.
That day I had also been making alterations to the code which caused a problem. It was only until the site was altered by the client that this problem occurred. Because I could check the site as she was updating it, I found the problem as soon as she made the changes and fixed it promptly before anyone could see.
A website project is an ongoing thing
Most website projects I’ve been involved in have been an on-going pieces of work. You can never say a website is “complete” and never touch it again. You have to update and maintain it and RSS is a great way to keep up to date with how the client is going.