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Most companies that I know of, already have a website set up. Some attract more customers then others, but the goal is always the same; present the company or the product(s) to potential and existing customers. And many websites do exactly that.. However, one question that you should always ask yourself when creating any website or web page, is 'why would people come back to this site?'... Why would you actually want people to come back to your site? When people come back to your site, they do so because they are looking for more information about the company or your product line. When people re-visit your site, it gives you a great opportunity to introduce them to other products or services that you offer, or show them new products or services that they may not even be aware of.

So, what makes a user come back to your site? The short answer is 'updated content': New information that answers questions or a need for information. Once you know where to get the best donuts, you'll go back to that store, right? And when they have an advertisement for a new kind of donut, you will be far more likely to try it out, since the others that they make are so good as well!

Having updated content can come in various forms, such as a product FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) or user manual, news articles announcing product updates, new articles related to the business or branch related updates.

While writing these articles may not be the hardest thing to do, publishing them is often difficult for the non-webmaster. This is where Dynamic Content comes in.

Building a page or site with dynamic content means that the contents of the page (text, images, etcetera) change based on what the customer is looking for. Dynamic pages are great for websites that have a lot of changing content, or use many different pages that all need the same layout. When adding a page, you basically add content to a database which is then displayed to the user based on the link that was selected. Basically, it dynamically shows the content for product A or product B, using the same layout for both. This really helps out with the headache of managing a large site.

Adding pages is done through an administration interface. This is -most often- a web page by itself where you log on and enter a menu-driven editor where you can add, remove or edit the contents of pages. A system like this is called a CMS (Content Management System).

The are many CMS's out there, all with their own strengths. Some are designed to create 'communities', where people can sign up and log on. Others are used for easy creation of websites. The OpenSourceCMS website is a great starting point to find many free CMS systems, offering even the possibility to test-drive the administration interface of most of them. By doing this, you can see what you need and if a certain system works the way that you want it.

Most CMS systems use templates for their layout, so you are not stuck with the default layout that is used for certain product. If you find the product that you like, but you cannot find a template that you feel comfortable using, surf around on their website looking for the forums. Most likely you will be able to find some developers there that are willing to design a template according to your specs for a few hundred dollars or less.

Some great CMS systems are:

• PHPNuke: A CMS to create web communities.

• BitWeaver: A highly configurable website generator.

• WebsiteBaker: A clean and simple CMS. Not as extensible and configurable as the above, but sufficient to create some very pretty dynamic sites.