If the company is serious about its web presence and about business in general, it will give its web site serious attention and consideration just as though it were another department / unit within the organization. Even if a dedicated web site manager isn't appointed, the whole matter of the company's web presence needs to be owned by someone, and fall within their immediate and constant list of priorities.

If your company's site is "owned" by someone, you should probably look to ask him/her some of these questions:

How often is email checked?

It's all well and good that lots of potential customers can send emails to the various email addresses listed on the web site. It's good too when they fill out forms on the site and send feedback. But who is checking, reading and responding to these emails and feedback submissions. Having an email link on your web site is only as good as the procedures for ensuring that the email is actually picked up and read by an appropriate person within a reasonable time.

How quickly are emails and inquiries dealt with?

When the site generates inquiries, there needs to be a process in place to ensure that a response is sent back quickly enough. Even if the response is a "We'll get back to you in a few days" type of answer, showing that sort of courtesy is well worth it in the long run for the overall image of the company - and much better than having it appear as though there's no one on the other end of the site.

How do you assess the site's success and/or popularity?

You must to be able to evaluate the success of your site. Not all sites will use the same factors as measures of success, so this has to be looked at carefully. Auto-generated site reports showing how many unique visitors the site gets on a daily basis and which search engines referred people can be quite useful for one site. For another site however, the number of enquiries, orders and actual revenue generated may be a better measure of success. Keeping track of the site's success will undoubtedly help future decision making about investing more resources in it.

How often is the site reviewed?

It's important to plan for regular reviews of the effectiveness and success of the site. Maybe there is new technology that you could be taking advantage of. Maybe it needs a new layout or new graphics to keep it looking fresh and appealing. If it's an e-commerce site, the steps that a customer takes to make a purchase may need to reviewed and made simpler. Whatever it is, the main aim here is to take advantage of potential opportunities in a timely way, and deal with problems (actual or potential) before they become a major issue.

If it's an e-commerce site, what procedures are in place to support this?

Your site takes online orders, but how do you ensure that the products ordered are sent out on time? How are they sent out? If you accept credit card payments, how do you ensure that the customers' card information is kept secure and confidential? Are there local laws that you should be concerned about? Are there local taxes and delivery factors that you may need to take into account?

How is your site being promoted?

Is a marketing strategy for the site being incorporated into the overall marketing strategy for the company? Are you taking advantage of every single way and opportunity to promote the web site? Is the site enjoying good coverage and rankings in the major search engines? When customers contact you conventionally (phone, walk-in, etc.), do you tell them about the site? How do you ensure that an effective site promotion strategy is being followed and how do you measure its success?

With these questions answered, its expected that a somewhat clearer picture of the company's overall Internet strategy and how effective it may or may not be can be derived. Too often we see Jamaican companies 'throwing up' their web site as a brochure, and leaving it there to gather dust. The Internet, with its global reach, offers Jamaican companies easy access to the world market thus making a good overall Internet strategy an important aspect of any company's overall business plan.

Sandor Panton ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is a Jamaican currently working as a Search Engine Optimizer for an Intenet Marketing Company in Ontario, Canada. He is also the owner of www.top5jamaica.com, a Jamaican search portal.