In my previous post I have discussed two features to be added to my websites to make them more attractive to visitors.

No doubt, it is an ongoing process of searching new ways to improve your web projects. Regularly updated content is great, but add a few new features now and then - and you are likely to gain more loyal visitors.

I have a few systems when working on this. I consider any website from five perspectives and think how to improve any of them:

- design
- code
- content
- marketing
- monetization

Another approach is to follow recent trends of the Internet scene development. Two of the most useful resources that help me with that are TechCrunch.com and Trendwatching.com They are an unlimited source of ideas – you need just time and funds to digest and implement at least a few of them.

Webmaster forums are also invaluable – I have discovered so many useful tips and ideas regularly scanning a few of my favorite ones. I have a habit to print out the most interesting threads, re-read them now and then. I do the same with my Bloglines account where at the moment I have 10-12 folders, each has 20-60 subscribed feeds.

One more way is to benchmark your competition. I think it is next to impossible to be number one in any niche at this time when venture capital is back and invested into online projects, but we can see what top performers in our niches (that are largely funded) offer their visitors and modify those features to introduce at our own websites.

Summary: I am sure everyone has his own algo of working at his web projects. In my case I apply the above techniques added to traditional brainstorming.

Next stage is to implement a few of the selected features. Then I move to the next website. Once I am through with the entire circle I start from the beginning. The entire circle can sometimes take a few months as in addition to the development of new features you need to perform daily update of your projects.

Time and money required to make any changes to the websites often limit us in our decisions. It is a hard task to find that balance that the changes and features you are about to introduce will recoup your investments.

Technorati Tags: website update, website niches, website ideas, website development, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, home based job, earn your living online

You need new features and new content to keep your regular visitors coming back to your websites. It is obvious. The other side of the story is that you need time and money investments to develop and add these features and update them regularly.

A few things I am about to add to my current web projects are e-mail newsletters (Jacob Nielsen states it is the most efficient way to keep in touch with your customers and website visitors) and polls.

I have checked my options to run an e-mail newsletter.

My requirements are:

- free application, preferable, web based
- automated
- high e-mail deliverability

The only option I have found (I did my research just within 5-10 minutes) – Zookoda. A nice and easy to use online application that takes care of your e-mail marketing. They have a number of requirements – for instance, their service is a viable option just for a number of blogging platforms. They generate automatic feeds for your e-mail broadcasts offering a great option – you can schedule broadcasts. Another great feature about this online application – you can run e-mail newsletters for a number of your websites from one account. A nice feature.

Create an e-mail list, add a subscription form to your website, select a template (can be customized), schedule a broadcast, and track your results. All in one. Easy, fast and free.

I have been registered with the service for about a week, have properly examined all its options and FAQ, but my account is limited, they need to authenticate it as a way to fight against SPAM. Not sure how long it will take and how they are going to authenticate my account, but I would be happy to broadcast e-mails to my opt-in subscribers as soon as possible.

Polls are also a useful interactive feature that takes minimum efforts to run. I have read positive feedback about two WordPress poll plug-ins, checked and liked both – WP-Polls and Democracy. I am about to install it on my websites next week.

Summary: New features are a smart way to preserve a number of regular visitors and make your website more valuable in the eyes of users, but it all takes time. Yes, time is a very important asset that you can’t replenish. You need a sort of balance. So, it is great when you find ways to automate tasks or outsource it at some affordable prices.

Technorati Tags: website features, website niches, website ideas, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, home based job, earn your living online

In the process of reviewing my website network and thinking of the ways to improve the current projects an idea has come to my mind (the idea that should have come a year or so back when I started most of my websites) - what is a successful website? I am always unhappy with my projects but what is an ideal website to achieve?

The one that gets good traffic through search engines?
The one that is an authority among other websites in its niche?
The one that provides high income and requires minimum efforts to run?
The one that has professional design and code, great content and marketing plan?
The one that enjoys a vast number of regular visitors?
The one that provides certain status and reputation to its owner?
The one that is fast to adopt all new fads that turn up in its niche?
The one that reaches this list?
The one that is added to this list?
Mini Amazon, mini Yahoo, mini Google?

Or is a successful website a combination of all mentioned features and more?

Summary: Certainly, it would be great to own websites with all these features. But probably it is also a good idea to target your websites to achieve this or that feature or at least to focus on one particular aspect? And diversify your websites not only in miscellaneous niches, but also targeting various aims.

Technorati Tags: website niches, website ideas, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, home based job, earn your living online