<p>One key to success can be using the right tools for the job. The same is true of web and in building or updating your website.</p> <p>Web technology has come amazingly far in just the last couple years and it is easier now than ever to effectively use the web to create ongoing communications with your clients and customers.</p> <p>The problem can be setting an appropriate budget and knowing how elaborate to make you web presence.</p> <p>It is not always the best course of action for a small business to invest in a custom CMS or web application.</p> <p>Now that being said, there are advantages to going the custom route, but that is another article.</p> <p>Instead, it can be a good idea to use established free services to add value and functionality to your web site.</p> <p><strong>Blog</strong></p> <p><a href="http://wordpress.org/" title="WordPress">Wordpress</a> is a great platform that is open source and can be installed in your website.</p> <p>This can be a great value if you have a small number of pages because if wordpress is on the same domain as your site, you can add much more content.</p> <p>A site of 8-15 static pages can become a site of a hundred pages if you consistently add posts about your business, industry, services, and consumer tips.</p> <p>This can help your google ranking as you are adding more relevant content for google to search through.</p> <p>The blog can then be distributed in a variety of ways to reach more people.</p> <p><strong>News Updates</strong></p> <p>There has been a number of articles on <a href="http://twitter.com" title="Twitter">twitter</a> on biznik for good reason. If you use it well, it can be a great avenue to market your business and promotions, while letting your clients and customers know important updates.</p> <p>It is not hard for your web developer to add twitter to your home page with a simple Java Script file that will parse the few most recent posts.</p> <p><strong>Comments</strong></p> <p>If you want people to be able to comment on pages or services, <a href="http://disqus.com" title="Commenting by disqus">disqus</a> is another free service that will help you. It manages comments and informs you when you need to respond.</p> <p>It is another Java Script call that will embed a comment form on any page.</p> <p>The result is a running comment list like here on biznik or wordpress.</p> <p><strong>Contact Form</strong></p> <p>Contact forms can be tricky to get right, but there are many advantages to use them over just an email link to open Outlook.</p> <p><a href="http://wufoo.com/" title="Contact forms by Wufoo">Wufoo</a> is a great service that lets you build custom forms that will generate reports based on the info sent.</p> <p>Are you a restaurant that would like an optional, short survey on your atmosphere or dining experience, than Wufoo will do that.</p> <p>You can then log on and see a report of those results while receiving the contact form results in your email.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p> <p>These are just a few examples that are easily integrated into your site and can save development time.</p> <p>At the same time, they can add key services that will extend the functionality of your web site.</p> <p>With WordPress and Twitter, the best results come from consistent use. So be sure to update them with posts if you hire your web developer to integrate them to your site.</p> 2009-08-06T16:31:49Z -4.3619 142 5819 true 15 36039 adding-value-to-your-static-website 0 2009-08-10T19:57:49Z 2009-08-10T19:58:16Z

Custom web sites and functionality can be an extra expense that may not be the best course for your business. If you are working with a smaller budget, using established web services can add value to a static site.

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