While there is a lot of press about some of the new online media and methods for advertising and communicating your message, most companies have a long way to go to use the basic online tools of a web site and email to the full potential.

Here are some ways to get more out of your web site and email.

Web SiteStep back and make an honest evaluation of your web site. Most sites that were designed four or five years ago are long overdue for a design overhaul. Here are the things that most sites can improve upon:

1. Graphic design – Sites designed four or five years ago look like a kitchen that was last updated in 1975. Web site design has made huge strides over the last several years and significantly contributes to people’s impression of your company.

2. Contact information – Make it super easy to find your phone number, address and email address. Consider adding it to the top right-hand corner of every page. Don’t just bury it on the contact us page.

3. Home page information – When people land on your home page, they should be able to immediately validate what products you have through text and graphic information. Make sure your home page clearly tells a story about your business. Also, get rid of the fancy flash intro that keeps people from getting to the meat of your site.

4. Product information – People are coming to your site to discover whether or not you have a product or service that meets their needs. Make it easy to find and navigate your product information.

5. Use of Flash animation or scrolling marques – While this was new and exciting five years ago, usability studies show that people find this distracting. Use animation for a purpose such as to demonstrate a product application or to show different angles of the product.

6. Web analytics – This is a fancy phrase for looking at the reports to know what is working and what is not working on your site. You can learn a tremendous amount from how people use your site which can help you improve your new site.

EmailEvaluate how often you communicate with your customers and prospects. Could your sales efforts be enhanced if you touched base with people more often? If you have a list of a few thousand customers or even a few hundred, your sales efforts can be supported by adding email marketing to your communication mix.

To get started with email marketing: