Experts provide advice for nine of your toughest marketing, management and technology challenges.

Hmmmmmm. How much time do you spend deep in thought, your chin resting on your hand, your eyes focused on the future? The truth is, probably not enough. The business printing industry continues to change at an astounding rate, presenting your company with new challenges, new products, new services and new customers every day. But you're so busy reacting that it leaves precious little time for proactive decision making.

Well, take a time out, and add more brainpower to your business with the help of nine business experts who tackle your toughest age-old (and Information Age) challenges. Their guidance in the areas of management, marketing and technology might lead you to rethink your business strategies.

Technology Challenge: Developing a Business Web Site
Providing the Answer:
Wally Bock, an El Cerrito, Calif., publisher of Briefing Memo and Monday Memo, newsletters that cover key trends and their strategic implications for business. Visit his Web site.

For all the hoopla about the Internet's potential for business, many companies are still waiting for the payoff. They may keep waiting unless they apply business basics, Wally Bock says. "Web sites are really good, functional business tools," he says. "But business fundamentals are still business fundamentals, even on the Web. The first step is asking yourself why you need a Web site." Many companies think they need an immediate Web presence, Bock says, "but they put a Web site up just to have something rather than to fit a strategy."

A key step early on is deciding your Web site's objectives, Bock says. Will it serve as a site for electronic commerce, or will its main function be to support your business through marketing, information and special services? Other questions to reconcile: Who will host and maintain the site? How will you handle orders and requests for information?

The next step is to design a navigation chart for your Web site, Bock says. As a starting point, log questions customers call to ask your company. "This gives you some idea of what information needs to be on the Web site, what questions need to be answered and what the logical links are between those pieces," Bock says. A visual aid can help in the design of those structural links. Bock suggests writing key words on Post-it notes and sticking them on a whiteboard. Spread them out around your "center" or "main section" like a web so you can see how the flow of information should be linked on your site. For example, visitors drawn to your Web site may want information about a particular product. From your homepage, they could click on a section devoted to your capabilities. From there, a link could take them to definitions of specific terms. Another link would allow customers to order those products online.

When developing your Web pages, keep two main considerations in mind:

Web pages (particularly entry pages) should load quickly. Bock's standard-an average American Online user in the evening should be able to load your pages in 12 seconds or less. "If they don't load fast, people don't hang around to see what you've got," Bock says. "You're not Disney."

Web sites should be easily navigable. "If users can find the information they want," Bock says, "they will come back." Utilize structured search tools (categories and pull-down menus) or non-structured search tools (search engines that let customers use "their" jargon). Another wise investment is log analysis programs. Available off the shelf or from Internet providers, these programs provide information about how long visitors stay, what pages they exit from, what search words they use, what paths they follow through your site and more. "If you're not performing a log analysis, you're probably flying blind," Bock says. "You can find out that what visitors really want [from your site] is two or three pages in, and then make necessary adjustments."

Also, remember that business Web sites (as opposed to entertainment sites) should emphasize functionality first. "You measure the effectiveness of your Web site by how it works, not how it looks," Bock says. "If it winks, blinks or moves, you need to make sure it has a positive purpose. Does it meet your visitors' objectives? If that's not happening, it probably doesn't need to be there."

The next step is deploying and promoting your site. Bock encourages businesses to use meta tags, which are incorporated into code and include key words used by search engines to find and classify Web pages. A good site developer should ask for key words and descriptions while constructing your Web site, Bock advises. But don't overlook the audience you have already captured. "The people you most want to tell about your Web site are clients," he says. "You don't rely on a search engine for that." Make your Web site a reason to call customers, Bock says, and include your Internet address on all correspondence and marketing pieces.