It's a very common occurrence that former employees' email addresses remain on a web site, particularly on a contact page. Most of the time, this is fairly harmless. However, sometimes ex employee emails remain active. If old names remain on the site, they also remain in search engines. This can be embarrassing for new employees. We recently had one client with a new service manager who couldn't figure out why he was fielding calls for his predecessor (until we pointed out that the former service manager's name was still on the site).

One of the most common errors we uncover in our usability audit is the carryover of discontinued products or services. Get in the habit of updating product lineups on the web first, then adapt them to printed materials.

Believe or not, 7 out of 10 sites that we take over have outdated releases or trade show announcements on their sites. We give you the options of making the updates yourself or, if you would like, we can send you an email reminder at prearranged intervals to update this information. We can also prepare press releases on new services or upcoming events to keep this information current. With the Internet, you finally have an outlet that can announce new staff additions, new products or services, or special offers that will be seen by prospects. It costs next to nothing to update this information and it may just bring you your next new client. It is one of the most cost effective means of keeping your site current. It's also a great way for search engines to locate your site and bring new customers to you.

Photos and other graphics don't always display properly. Over time, links get dropped, and displays sometimes get out of sync. When we do an audit, we test all the pages to be sure the pictures display properly. Keep in mind that many older computers are still in use and believe it or not many people still use dial ups. Oftentimes, photos don't display on older computers or on different types of computers (eg. Apple vs. PC). We test displays on both types.

A web site is no different than your car, your software or your air conditioning or heat. Things break and need to be maintained. But unlike your car or computer, you won't know if these links are working unless you check them. Assign your secretary or receptionist to check the links periodically to make sure they work and point to the right page. Remember if a potential customer finds out they don't work, they will go on to the next site they find in their search. The web is all about information delivery. If something is wrong in the delivery, customers will move on to the next site.

Building a site is only the first step in effective web marketing. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN are often the first step prospects take in finding you. If you don't have a systematic program of search engine optimization you have wasted your web investment. Keywords and descriptions are the lifeblood of search engines. We offer a complete search engine optimization program that regularly submits your pages to the engines, then checks to see if they are picking you up.

Every page should have a contact point for more information. A well designed web site should lead prospects to a decision—go on to another page; go to the shopping cart; call for more information; email for more information; or come to your store or location. Be aware of potential dead ends. If the prospect clicks off your site without further action, you have lost the opportunity.

Would you keep a salesperson on staff if he or she forgets to ask for the order? Your web site should either ask for an order or invite a phone call. At the very least, it should invite the visitor to identify himself or herself via email. You already know they are interested in your services, so why wouldn't you ask them for a way that you can contact them. We have a saying that emails are as good as gold. Once you gain an email address, you have an opportunity to stay in touch, to tell them about new services, and a way to get back in touch. We can show you a number of techniques that will get you this invaluable bit of information.

You look at their operations, their ads and prices. Why not look at their web site? They may have upgraded it significantly. They may have instituted a search engine program that has diverted new business from you to them. At the very least, they have looked at your site and copied your strategies. You need to stay one step ahead. If you don't you're one step behind and losing ground. Regardless of the business you are in, web marketing is quickly surpassing advertising, word of mouth and direct marketing as the most important method of generating new business .

Remember, the term Web describes how sites are interrelated. You undoubtedly belong to trade organizations, dealer groups, and business groups. You should have links to and from each and every one of these sites. Again, the cost for linkages is practically free.

An added bonus is that search engines reward sites for the links they share. It places you higher in the rankings. We have a complete program that maximizes these linkages and ties your site to the visitors on these other sites. But, you need to be proactive. More than half of the sites we work with under utilize this very important tool.

Many sites move their URL, stop operation or simply lose their links. Your administrator should check these links quarterly and update them. We offer a service that not only checks these links on a regular basis, but seeks out new sites and linkages.

There are two ways to link to a related site. One method opens up a new window. The second method simply takes the visitor to the new site—and away from yours! Only 40% of the sites we analyze do the latter, but if your site is in that percentile, you are defeating the purpose of linkages. We can check and correct all of the links on your site.

60% of all the sites we optimize have links to other sites without reciprocal links. That's like referring business to another company without getting anything in return. When we optimize a site, we send a simple letter to all referred sites telling them we have placed a link to their site and ask that they return the favor. We keep the link active for 10 days, then remove it if we don't gain a reciprocal link. It's only fair that you should receive the same courtesy that you are extending to the related site. There is a certain courtesy that should be followed in web site linkages. We make sure that you are granted that courtesy.

Web visitor statistics are available with practically every hosting service. If your current provider is not giving you these statistics, you are not getting the full value from your web investment. We take web reporting one step further by summarizing these results. We understand that you are too busy to analyze these statistics on a regular basis. Therefore, we provide a top end analysis, enabling you to drill down into specifics whenever you want or whenever it makes sense.