*Weekly newsletters (naturally) *Discussion boards *Professional tips and advice *Printable "coupons" for goods or services (which rewards users for visiting site) *Calendars *Events related to your website's subject (conferences, speakers, etc.) *Recipes *Free samples of your product/service *polls and surveys *Frequently updated articles (iSyndicate and FreeContent are two good sources of copy. You can find them at www.isyndicate.com and http://www.egoups.com/group/Free-Content) *Q and A columns, using reader's questions (this should also be updated as frequently as possible) *Quick, reliable customer service *Easily located contact information (name, phone, address, email) *A bio page-if people feel like they're dealing with another person (rather than a borg-bot) that's original human version of interactivity. *Easy, clear navigation *An order form/catalog/shopping cart that is easy to find, easy to use (and hopefully secure).

You've probably already implemented some of these, but if not- what are you waiting for? You've got nothing to lose--except bored, confused users.

http://www.everyone.net/main/html/community_tour.html Create a community

http://subportal.iboost.com/subportals.html Offer free stuff

http://www.atomz.com Add search to your site

http://contests.about.com/shopping/contests/mpboards.htm Offer a prize or competition

http://www.hi2.com Let visitors play games

http://web-source.net/write.htm Write an article (or three)

=> OR DO IT YOURSELF!

The web is literally brim-full with free website building tools that can really improve your website. Again, you are only limited by your own imagination (or creative combination of other people's imagination!). I recommend you visit all of these sites, and get thinking...

- http://www.bignosebird.com (script called birdcast) - http://cgi-resources.com/Programs_and_Scripts - http://reallybig.com - http://www.zdnet.com/developer/ - http://www.builder.com - http://www.web-source.net/web/ - http://buildit.sitesell.com/shopping101.html

=> READ MORE...

Think for a while about sites that *you* really like, and think why it is that you like them. And always be on look- out for good ideas, both online and offline.

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Make your site a "wow!", and get everyone talking about (and visiting) your site. Sounds simple, doesn't it! It isn't, but there are lots of tools and resources on Internet to help you. Just add your brain... then create a buzz!