How does your website look? Does it give customers a clear idea of what you can do for them? Do the links work? Is it current? If not, there's a good chance you could be losing business to someone further down the information highway. Some 75 percent of all Canadians and Americans, or about 248 million, use the Internet to entertain themselves, communicate with others and — most importantly to you — search for businesses and services.

For the past couple of years, MCI has been helping operators establish and refine their websites to help them build their businesses. Alice Lemon, MCI web marketing specialist, has been leading the effort — and, she is the creator and moderator of MCI's Webinar, "Effective Web Communication," which is free to MCI customers and part of an award-winning series.

"A good website can bring in new business like almost nothing else. It's a living, dynamic tool, and it can be inexpensive and easy," says Lemon. "The biggest pitfall companies make is not using their homepage as a marketing tool. They don't give the information. They talk too much; say too little; and they don't effectively communicate what they offer. I'm a huge proponent of pictures, not words. You don't want the main thing on your homepage to be a company history. It's all about, 'What are you going to do for me today?'"

To that end, Lemon and her team have done a lot to offer concrete, specific advice on how to do it right. Following are some tips gleaned from the Webinar:

Nail the basics: audience, objectives and strategy

Are you looking to book more preplanned tours? Get more charters? Who might be deciding or riding? What information should your customers have? Should you offer special online pricing? Create an e-mail campaign? Can you offer online booking and payment?

Do a competitive review

Spend some time looking at competitor sites and those by other businesses. See what you like and take inspiration — but don't just copy. Your goal should be to lead your market.

Design your site intelligently

There's plenty of research out there as to what the human eye responds to, says Lemon. For instance, she says, arranging key elements in a zig-zag manner makes them easier to scan, and the least-noticed area on a page tends to be the far right side.

Don’t waste visitors' time with too much Flash, animation or sound

Speed counts when visiting a website. Make it easy to get to the goods. Sound can be annoying, especially if your visitors are shopping at work!

Give visitors something active to do

You'll keep their attention longer if you can make your website interactive. Let visitors find you on a map, take a virtual tour of a coach interior, download a brochure, book a trip.

Display only your best and most marketable equipment

And tell your customers why they might want it. Note amenities and other salient features.

Include your general information on every page

Don't make visitors go to a special contact page or your homepage to find your phone number.

Offer an electronic way for customers to request quotes or information

Many users may visit your site during atypical business hours. Even if you're not equipped to offer real-time booking or quotes, make sure you have a quote-request device. Always specify a promised response time — and then meet it!

Keep your site current and test it often

Try to avoid having outdated information or broken links on your website — customers may take it as an indication that you don't look after the details.

Find a way to collect information for future use

Ask visitors to join a mailing list for special offers and/or updates. You might even want to create an electronic newsletter of your own, with destination information and packing tips. Make sure you provide easy-to-use contact forms.

The MCI website Webinar includes more information on all the above topics, plus detailed  discussions on using keyword search optimization, analytics, pay-per-click advertising and more. Keep an eye on MCI's website for the next session!

The FYI from MCI editorial staff values your feedback. Please e-mail any suggestions, comments, or ideas for future articles to fyi@mcicoach.com.