Most people think if you build a website, visitors will come. That's not necessarily true. You can't depend solely on search engines to get the word out about your website, especially if your product or service is a common one. Strategic online and offline marketing is essential as well, if you want to build website traffic on a consistent basis.

Far too many companies create a website, then fail to promote it. No matter how good it looks or how user-friendly it is, a website without exposure is a website that will sit idle. Some 5 to 7 million web pages are added daily to the world wide web; unless you're investing a lot of effort into telling the world about yours, it's going to get lost in the shuffle.

These simple steps can increase exposure for your website immediately:

• Include your URL on every document that leaves your office (business cards, brochures, letterhead, press releases, etc.)
• Put it in your email signature
• Imprint it on all promotional items
• Include your website address in any print or broadcast advertising you do
• Be sure to mention your website in your voicemail message

To maximize the return on your investment, however, you need to aggressively market your website. In today's technology-focused environment, a successful website can be your most productive marketing tool. Here are some other ideas for making your site the best it can be:

• Experiment with different keywords to see which ones attract the most traffic
• Add your site's URL to topic-related directories
• Continuously update your email database
• Develop and distribute an email newsletter
• Explore pay-per-click advertising
• Add new text, images, products, or features on a regular basis
• Track and analyze your website traffic frequently

Your website should always be considered a work in progress, not a finished product. Every upgrade and update you make can directly impact your sales; treat your site with the attention and respect it deserves and the results may surprise you.

On January 30, 2007, Microsoft released its latest version of Microsoft Windows, called "Vista." Vista contains hundreds of new features such as a new graphical user interface, a visual style dubbed "Windows Aero," improved searching, new multimedia creation tools, and redesigned networking, audio, print, and display sub-systems. One of the primary functions of Vista will be to improve the state of security in the Windows operating systems, plus Microsoft hopes Vista will increase the level of communication between machines and simplify sharing of files and digital media between computers and devices.

According to one survey, 26 percent of companies plan to implement Vista in 2007, 53 percent in 2008, and 16 percent in 2009. But many IT directors have found that when they pitch Vista to their customers, those customers would rather have Office 2007 and Exchange 2007, which Microsoft has also just released. All three of these new Microsoft products have their own individual functions, but combined, the benefits are seemingly endless. Currently, Microsoft has 64,000 desktops under Vista and 107,000 under Exchange 2007. Launching three new platforms at once is a whole new tactic for Microsoft, and IT administers are jumping on board. Forrester analyst Ted Schadler predicts a gradual increase in Vista usage over the next four years. He expects 12 million households will migrate over to Vista during 2007, with that number expanding to 73 million by 2011.

Microsoft has gone to great lengths to make the Vista transition as easy as possible, but some IT administrators are finding the journey a bit rocky. These steps must be followed before deploying Vista, and are creating some headaches for IT administrators:

• Audit software - This is critical, because you have to determine what your application portfolio is, if it will run on Vista, and then you have to test it with your desktop management tools.
• Survey hardware - This is the most crucial step in the transition process because you have to test the hardware landscape to see if it's compatible. This cannot be done without software tools. Even hardware that is only a year old may run into compatibility problems. Deploying Vista on older hardware will definitely create some issues.
• Check anti-virus licenses - Many IT administrators are finding that Vista will not run with most anti-virus packages-a real problem if there's no budget for a different package.
• Build images that you want to deploy with Vista.

Microsoft admits that implementing these new programs is going to be painful and challenging; their advice is, "take it at your own pace." They also suggest taking your time in becoming familiar with their deployment tools and guidelines. Vista's benefits may outweigh the inconvenience, but you probably won't want to attempt a transition without the expertise of an IT administrator. Even with one, you may be in for a bumpy ride.