It’s important to be able to update your website regularly. Most small business, especially those with no web division per se, simply change the live copy of their site. By that I mean, they try changing things on the actual site without testing it in any intermediate step. This can be a big deal or not depending on your skill level and also what you are trying to change.

It is possible to test your web pages before you upload them to your website through local copies. Local copies refer to the location of the file relative to you. Local, means either on your computer or computers directly connected to your computer without using the internet (aka LAN, or local area network). This is actually very easy to do for standard .html pages. All you need to do is open the file with any web browser you have like firefox, chrome, safari, opera, or [shudder] internet explorer.

Now one thing to remember with local copies is that file structure, that is, how files are arranged on your computer relative to each other is important. For example, if I have my homepage in a directory (folder) which also houses all of my required image files, then that needs to be how it will be on the server and visa versa. You can’t move those files or they will result in broken links. So, it’s just a good idea to take more than you need, usually, one huge files with all of your little sub-files included.

If you have a more complicated site which relies on PHP. Then take a look at WAMP. This is a program which allows a few files on your computer to act like a server and will compile your PHP. I’ve been using this for several months now with absolutely nothing but good things to say. A local server like WAMP is going to be required if your site is a wordpress blog for example, so keep that in mind.

Lastly, and easily just as importantly, local copies are critical for backups. You should always, always have backups of your site. All of it. And not only that, but optimally you will have several. Proper safety protocol calls for at least one good complete digital backup as frequently as possible, and an off-site copy that is updated regularly. That could mean burning your entire site to a dvd every two weeks and taking it home with you, or that could mean hosting it on a mirror server in five other continents on the globe. Whatever it is, make sure your bets are hedged and your site will be looked after in the case of something unforseen and unfortunate.