By Tim Knox

Will My Website Ever Change

Someone once said that a website is like a cute baby. Everybody wants one until it needs changing. Nothing could be closer to the truth.

It's important that you realize when used wisely and correctly, a website can actually bring you business that you might not otherwise get. And one of the best ways to build that business is to give users a reason to come back to your site. If your page never changes, why would anyone have a reason for coming back? That's why it's vital that before you begin building your site, you carefully consider what will go on your pages and how often -- if ever-- the content will change.

It's always a good idea to have some kind of "revolving content" on your site to give potential and current customers a reason to come back for more. Revolving content is simply any content on the page that changes every so often to keep the page timely and fresh.

Featuring a different weekly special on your website is a good example of revolving content. So is offering electronic coupons that customers can print out and bring in to your store for redemption. Offering pertinent information and links related to your business is another great way to keep customers coming to your site. If you own a bakery, feature a recipe of the week. If you're a doctor, have an "Ask The Doc" feature wherein you encourage users to email medical questions to you and once or twice a week you pick one email, write a few paragraphs in response to the question asked and post your response on your website. If you clean carpets or sell truck tires, ask satisfied customers to give you a sentence or two telling how great your service was, then post these customer cudos on your webpage. I think you get the idea.

A website that changes once in a while is always preferable to one that does not. And this leads to the next question...

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Tim Knox is an Internet designer, developer, author and teacher. He is the Creative Director of Digital Graphiti. In a prior life, Tim was an award-winning humor columnist and cartoonist. His current writing projects include a book on web development for SAM's Publishing.