7. Service

A common misnomer about web development and Web marketing is that customer service is not a requirement. Not true at all. If you don't believe me, pick out 10 random sites and e-mail the Webmaster See how long it takes to get a response, if you get a response at all.

Sometimes we can be blinded by being too close to our sites. We should listen to our users for the same reason we seek outside advice on personal issues, or we ask others to edit our writing. You can never visit your site for the first time again.

It's a good idea to insert a mail to link somewhere highly visible on the home page. Encourage users to leave you a comment about the site, whether good or bad. Sure, you'll get more e-mail than usual. E-mail can be hard to manage, but not if you check it regularly. When we're working, my e-mail (several accounts) is checked every 5 minutes. I don't read and respond to it every five minutes. But if we get a free moment, we read it, but more importantly we pay attention to it. No, we don't answer every single piece of mail. That's too much to ask of any Webmaster, but we answer anything we feel is important.

User comments have helped me more than we can express in this article. The questions we have about our site, such as ease of use, clarity, are answered by our users. Plus, it's gratifying to hear a positive comment every now and then.

Not only will listening to users help your future development, but it will also make your users feel they have a voice. The web has become too impersonal. Any sign that the creators/developers care about the users is truly a relief. Remember that every person who hits your site is an actual person in search of something. A Webmaster's responsibility is to make that something easy to find.