So, you're ready to bring your business to the Internet. It's time to create your online presence, your marketing face in the online world.

Lots of businesses have walked this path already. Here are 10 common mistakes many companies have made, but that you can avoid.

1. No-name nobody's - Many small businesses choose to set up shop in the online world with a site name on Freeserve or MSN, rather than having their own Web address. Which company would you feel more comfortable buying from - www.members.freeserve.com/myonlineshop or www.myonlineshop.com? It's easy and cost effective to register your own domain name.

The same goes for e-mail addresses. If you're running a small business, it's a great idea to set up an e-mail address that uses your business Web address.

2. Pokey pages - Many small-business Web sites load far too slowly. If your Web pages take more than 10 seconds to load, you run the risk of losing visitors. Graphics with large file sizes are usually the culprits. Use graphic software to reduce the file size of individual graphics on your Web site to no more than 10 Kb.

3. Picture paucity - You wouldn't send out a marketing brochure that's all words and no pictures. Photos of your store or office, your products, your employees make your business feel "real" to online visitors. Images give you a tangible presence and let visitors get a sense of the kind of business you run. However, make sure your pictures' file sizes are small enough to load quickly.

4. The "if I build it, they will come" delusion - One of the most common mistakes small businesses make is to assume that if there's a business Web site, customers will suddenly start flocking to it. Don't wait to start marketing your firm online. It is recommend you at least consider these five marketing efforts when you launch a Web site:

1. Be proactive in listing on search engines.
2. Start an affiliate program to encourage and reward other businesses for sending you online customers.
3. Be proactive in finding sites with which you can trade links.
4. Consider joining a banner exchange.
5. Start collecting visitors' e-mail addresses on Day One, so that you can lure them back to your Web site.

5. Phoneless in cyberspace - Don't forget to put your phone number prominently on your Web site. Many small-business executives have said the way their Web site is most frequently used is a customer looking at it while calling the company. Customers will refer to something on the Web site, but they actually buy products or order services on the phone.

Unless you are working out of your home, it's also a good idea to put your mailing address on the site.

6. A barrage of banners - Joining a banner exchange can help bring traffic to your Web site, but putting loads of banners on a page, along with lots of buttons for affiliate programs just makes your site look busy and cheap. You'll hardly ever find a large-company Web site with multiple banners on a page.

If you join affiliate programs you'll probably find that you get much better results if you provide links to specific products in context, rather than a generic button to those companies' home pages.

7. Disappearing acts - It is amazing how many small-business Web sites are here today, gone tomorrow, and back again next Tuesday. It's vital that your site is available when customers look for it.

Make sure your site is up by either assigning an employee to check it several times a day, or using a service to notify you if it goes down.

8. Antique information - Keep the information on your site current. Remember to update phone numbers and take off dated special offers or coupons. Make sure someone on your staff is responsible for the site's information and that he/she checks and updates it routinely.

9. Background noise - For some reason, many small-business Web sites use busy background wallpaper. People think the designs add interest and panache to the sites, but all it does is interfere with the message. Stick with a basic colour for the site background, one that is consistent with your site's image.

10. You do what? - Make sure your site quickly conveys the kind of business you are in and the products and services you offer. You'd be surprised at how many small business Web sites leave you looking at them for minutes while pondering, "What do these folks do?"

The front or home page of your Web site should include a short statement of your business mission. Consider augmenting that statement with a visual that makes it clear what you do.