What does your Web site say about your company?

The days when customers picked up the telephone to request information on products and services are over. Today’s prospective buyers do their research online, and they have little patience with companies that can’t keep up.

If you want your site to reflect your company’s image and level of sophistication and are still prominently using the Flash technology that once dominated Web sites, for example, you’re telling people you’re behind the times. Flash can add pizzazz, but it’s difficult for Internet search engines to penetrate, and site visitors don’t want to wait for a large Flash page to load.

That’s not good for business, so use Flash to enhance your site, rather than dominate it. Concentrate instead on usability, including a wealth of information and intuitive navigation, packaged in an aesthetically appealing environment.

In addition, today’s sites are increasingly interactive. Not only does the ability to accept orders, provide video training or tutorials, present virtual tours, conduct polls or allow members to vote online speed and improve business, it implies a certain level of expertise. That’s important to an increasingly sophisticated buying public.

You’ll need to devote time and energy to making sure your site is ready for public display every minute of every day. Outdated sites make your company look disorganized at best and irrelevant at worst. Links that don’t work, articles dating back several years and insufficient pages or information all proclaim a subpar operation to today’s Web-savvy viewers.

Updated looks, increased functionality, additional links, fresh content and absolutely current information are priorities. In many firms, one or more people are designated to perform weekly updates. Whether these people are employees or from an agency, they do things like replace outdated copy, make sure all the links on the site work and update public events calendars.

Additionally, many companies monitor how people use their sites. Tracking hits, following people as they click through pages and timing how long they stay all build understanding of what people are looking for on a Web site. The knowledge also helps guide ongoing development of more consumer-friendly pages.

Marketing and communications managers nationwide agree that business Web sites are “must-haves,” well worth the time and money it takes to keep them relevant, up to date and easy to navigate. Clean, sophisticated and professional looks put companies in the driver’s seat along the information highway, but they recognize that looks alone won’t make them more than drive-by attractions. For more information about how to justify your publications, contact Lee Simons at 312-252-8900 or lsimons@thesimonsgroup.com.