Very frequently I received emails and phone calls from small business owners who have websites that are in need of maintenance. Because I’m curious, I often ask them why the person who did their original web design can’t do the updates.

The reasons vary – but what really strikes me is the volume of web designers who will start a website design and not finish it. Or the web designers who after having gotten paid for the original web design, will simply lose interest in doing maintenance changes.

I realize website maintenance isn’t glamorous. But it’s vital to a small business owner because things do change. Sometimes really important things like phone numbers and addresses. I think any ethical web developer is bound to support that business owner’s website for the foreseeable future, because a website is something that needs to be kept up to date as the business changes.

I also think there are web developers who are perhaps students, or other very young folks who learn how to make a website, but who really don’t want to do website development this for a living. So they do a few web site designs and then decide to pursue another profession – leaving all their small business website clients in a lurch.

I’ve been doing small business website design since 2006 – and intend to continue until I retire. It’s something I enjoy, and I have ample business experience (17 years working for Motorola) to know that the best businesses are based on customer service, and that means being available to do maintenance changes whenever a client needs them done.

So if you know why web designers abandon their clients – if you are a small business owner who has been left without someone to do small changes on your website – or if you just have an opinion, I’d like to hear from you. Leave a comment. I’m curious about this phenomenon.

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