Everyday, dozens of so-called "marketing reports" fill my mailbox. Most are about as useful as a hole in the head, promising a flood of visitors or number one positions in the top search engines. Believe them? I should hope not.

And it's that never-ending spring of fiction that inspired this column. Here I'll attempt to summarize the main points of Internet success. They've all been tried and tested on my own successful sites, the Internet gossip stop, IT Gossip.net and the world's simplest portal, http://OnlineSpy.com.

Firstly, I'd like to highlight site design. Stick to the following:

1. Cool Graphics - Use modern, stylized graphics full of bright primary color
   
   
2. Definitive Simplicity - Needless to say, don't overcomplicate anything. For every extra complexity, expect 5% of your visitors to leave prematurely
   
   
3. Words Are All You Have - Check for spelling and grammatical errors. Write in a flamboyant and exciting style, avoiding obvious "sell-sell-sell" terms such as the overused "free"

Looking for that professional look? Try out these tips for size:

1. Get Branded - Define a company logo, slogan(s) and color scheme. And stick with it!
   
   
2. Your Own Domain - Demand respect? Get out your wallet. For Example: www.itgossip.net rather than http://www.tripod.com/members/freepages/~johnnie/forsale.html

What about site promotion? How do you get your voice heard? Try one of the following, in order of effectiveness.

1. Partnerships / Reciprocal Links - Don't be surprised by its effectiveness. Links are the building blocks of the Net. Get friendly with Webmasters running sites with a similar theme. Develop a relationship and maintain it
   
   
2. Newsgroup Postings - Don't confuse this with spam. Post details of your site to *relevant* groups upon its launch and whenever major updates take place
   
   
3. Award Winning - For a few thousand more hits, try submitting your site for top awards. We recently appeared in the WhatsOn.com top ten Internet sites list after recommending ourselves. Try out www.whatson.com
   
   
4. Award Giving - Why not start your own award service? You can request entrants implement a return link in exchange for a mention on your site. Submit your details to the guys and gals at http://www.award-it.com
   
   
5. Something Else - Offer a unique, creative or special service that makes people listen. E-mail a few tech-journalists and news organizations when available

When it comes around to banner sales, the most influencing factors are:

1. Price - Don't go overboard
   
   
2. Market - Analyze logs and subscription information to provide potential advertisers with demographic details. Identify your average visitor!
   
   
3. Technology - Don't have the necessary tech know-how to design your own banner system? Download free banner scripts from http://www.freecode.com/onlineapp.html

Don't forget that research shows small banners near the bottom right-hand corner of the browser window receive the most click-thrus.

How do you keep visitors coming back? Easy. Try out the following:

1. Updated Content - You've heard it before, but content really is King. Keep it fresh! Why do people visit our news site day after day?
   
   
2. Newsletter - Why not utilize the Net's most powerful tool? E-MAIL! Start a newsletter of some sort and keep your visitors up-to-date with recent happenings. Don't forget to tempt them with some incentive - free daily news, a "website of the week", etc.
   
   
3. Interactivity - If the user actually *does* something or contributes to the site in some way, it provides a motive to return. Perhaps they've posted a message on your guestbook and revisit to check the response. Check out http://www.sitelaunch.net/toolbox.htm for a few top interactivity tools

Until my next article, folks. Bye!