It’s easy to forget that your website can, and should, be used for much more than just sales.

Also consider:

• Having an employment page with an up-to-date list of jobs, possibly within an area of your website that also discusses company culture and introduces your staff
• Providing downloadable frequently-used forms and documents
• An education, training and resources area for partners and resellers

Carefully consider all people who might use your website to take full advantage of the medium.

When linking to a file that a website visitor can download, there are a few common courtesies you should follow.

• Make the file available in a format that does not require the visitor to own particular software
• List the file type and file size beside the link so the visitor knows what they need to view it and how long it will take to download
• If special software is required, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader for PDF files, provide a link to install that software

If the file is a whitepaper, information pack, etc., you should also ensure your business details (including contact details) are included: you’d be surprised how many businesses forget to do this, then frustrate their visitors who read a document weeks later and can’t figure out the author!

Potential customers become very frustrated when they realise information on a company’s website is out-of-date.

Make it a monthly procedure to go through each page of the website and ensure the content, particularly data such as rates, is relevant and timely.

When you are writing content for your website, consider if parts of it are likely to become out of date quickly, and consider reworking that part so that it requires less attention down the track.

Encourage your staff to take ownership over your website and contribute content, come up with marketing ideas, and make suggestions to enhance the website.

A blog, for example, is in excellent way to allow staff to write articles on areas in which they are experts.

You might also run an email newsletter that features an article written by a different staff member each month.

Your staff will feel more involved and responsible for the business as a result.

Offering your international customers a website in their native language will boost rapport, increase your potential customer base, and help your rankings in foreign search engines.

However, if your business involves customer contact (e.g. an accommodation property,) do not pay to have your website translated into a language that you do not speak within your business!

And most certainly do not insult your international visitors by using a computer translator service. Automatic translation services such as AltaVista/Yahoo!’s Babel Fish are excellent for interpreting text written in a language you are unfamiliar with, but are not designed to produce sensible prose!

If you are on a budget, one option is to create a one-page summary of your business in each of your spoken languages. Having your entire website available in each spoken language is, of course, ideal, but don’t forget you also need to keep all translated versions in sync — as you change an important piece of information on one page, you’ll need to update them all to remain consistent.