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Your website pages all should work together under same theme. The look and navigation must be consistent throughout site and should reinforce your offline brand identity. When building your site, use your brochures, business cards, and sales literature to incorporate your company image throughout.

For example, if you've been in business for 20 years and your company colors are gray and maroon, then your website shouldn't be pink and purple...follow me here? Keep your identity consistent online and off it will help with your company branding.

Another common error online marketers make is neglecting to update their websites, or keeping same look for over a year. A website is not static, like a brochure. Its strength as a marketing tool is its capability to evolve as time goes on, and you should add to it regularly. Experts say you should totally re-design every year to keep visitors from getting bored. An easy way to add fresh content is to add a news feed on whatever subject matter matches your site. The best service I have found that won't cost you a dime is http://www.moreover.com It's easy to set up, just cut and paste code they give you.

There are plenty of services online that will give you a single piece of JavaScript to paste into your pages giving you capabilities of showing new articles written by online experts on a weekly basis. Shelley Lowery of Web-Source has just started a new syndication service find it at http://www.web-source.net/syndicator.htm If you're interested in having your content appear on other people's sites take a look at "Master Syndicator" software at http://mastersyndicator.com/

The promotion process should not begin until your website works as an effective sales tool for your business. If your site is poorly designed and lacks content you'll just be wasting advertising dollars if you try to market it.

So next time your site sales are in a slump, take a look in your own backyard. You may be surprised at what you find.

http://www.7am.com icker/ Uses a Java applet that will give you latest headlines.

Comic Feeds

http://www.cartoonlink.net Work by talented cartoonists you can add to your pages free.

http://www.comicexchange.com Enjoy work of over 40 cartoonists free.

http://www.callahanonline.com/calsyn.htm Syndicated cartoon guaranteed to offend and entertain. Updates itself automatically every 24 hours.

Weather Feeds

http://www.wunderground.com/about/faq/ Displays current time and weather for city you select.

http://weatherguys.com/webmaster.html Free to use; gives weather conditions for whatever zip code is typed into box.

Daily Tips & Fun Stuff:

http://www.bannertips.com ipoftheday.shtml Updated every 24 hours. The tips provided are on banner advertising; what works and what doesn't.

http://www.surfnetkids.com/daily.html Fresh fun and free content that's family oriented. Choose from daily facts, daily chuckles, and more.

http://www.myzips.com/content.asp Add top 10 software downloads to your site by filling in short form and pasting code given onto your page.

http://www.doctorebiz.com/syndicate Add Dr. Wilson's weekly column on website marketing by adding two lines of javascript to page where you want it to appear.

If you write short articles and would like to see your content in syndication and appearing on other's websites you can submit your 400 to 1,200 word articles to mailto:syndicator@web-source.net and attach a photo (80X105). If chosen your articles will be added to http://www.web-source.net/syndicator.htm live feed.

You also may be interested in purchasing software to syndicate your own content. Check out "Master Syndicator" which makes it easy to start syndicating your own content. Selling for only 99.00 it runs on UNIX or Linux servers. For more info go to http://www.mastersyndicator.com

So next time your website needs some fresh content you may want to seriously consider using syndicated content. Why not benefit from someone elses work? Your website visitors will keep coming back for more, and you won't have to work so hard at keeping things fresh.