When up and running, your website must not just be left to rust:

Highlight new items on the front page

It is a nice touch whether to also put a date of update on the frontpage. I have a diary on the Goring front page and it is painfully obvious if it is out of date. But if there is nothing exciting to report, or you have no time at the moment to put up new material, then a date tends to show your neglect.

Keep product information up to date

A difficult task in some cases because the product managers never seem to remember to tell you from day to day what is altering. We have a lot of product data on the AET Flexible Space site, and we do try. Honestly!

Give news about your staff

The people page shows that we are caring, intelligent, warmblooded, humans. Another difficult one but worth a try. We do it on the Comfort Airconditioning site and conduct a regular audit to make sure that the people do still work there.

Advertise seminars and exhibitions

This one is key. It shows you really are alive and well. Some companies have a seminar programme. This supports the direct mail and Email advertising.

Provide useful links to other sites

An accurate and relevant list of links is very useful to your visitors. On the Goring-by-Sea website we have a lot of links to businesses as well as to tourist attractions. I know only too well how necessary it is to check each and every link regularly to check if they have moved or gone away.

Show significant sales on a news page

You can overdo this one. One of the American reference sites I use has pages and pages of this stuff, and you cannot see the wood for the trees. And I would like to see some detail about the sale. My Client Page is probably detailed enough.

Show Press Releases

Best for this is the Bond International page, where the PR people routinely send me press releases and photos.

Make special offers

You have to decide what it is you are going to reward. The Newspaper gimmick of offers with no-purchase-necessary is OK, but perhaps it should be only an offer for people who do pay something. I have a special offer of one page for 100 UKP on my Create Page.

Reply immediately to all Emails

Quick response is absolutely vital. Check your Email twice a day. Acknowledge every message immediately. Fulfill every order as soon as physically possible. Fail here and you might as well give up.

I am too busy this month

And associated with this retainer, for me to pay a short visit to the client at their premises at a scheduled date each month. We can then discuss whether we like the last months updates, and to discuss all the news and product changes that we should incorporate in the current month update.

Normally both the client and I come away with a lot of homework to be completed by the next monthly meeting.