Customers also can compare their own site's performance against 40 others. All is not lost for Web designers preferring to work on the cheap. A series of sites offer Web site maintenance services for free. NetMechanic also delivers a full report, usually within 15 minutes, that includes suggestions for repairing problems that are found. As well, the site offers a GIF optimization tool and will test up to 200 Web pages on a single URL at no charge.
Designers simply type in the site to be tested at the NetMechanic home page.
The present goal is to boost traffic and user awareness for future pay services. The site gets about 500,000 hits per month from 40,000 visitors. Answers pop up in about 20 seconds. Company officials say the site has received 1 million users in the past 90 days. LinkExchange doesn't have any premium site monitoring services, but some are planned for the future, representative Skye Ketonen says.