A number of times recently I have come across websites that offer fake social interactivity. Pages are billed with keywords like "group", "community" or "club", and you confidently expect something that offers the kind of dialog offered by their real-world equivalent. Clicking for the sake of curiosity, though, you find either more company news, special offers, or some edited testimonials and questions. Every time I see this, I wonder how customers are going to react. I mean, how they will feel if you ask them to a party, and then when they get there tell them to keep quiet while you talk about yourself?

What I imagine happening is that marketing partners or employees are told the company needs some kind of social networking feature. Then, when individual options are discussed, they look like too much work for little return (blog, wiki) or too open (online forum). Companies decide instead to play it safe and use the "feature" to include marketing content that didn't make it onto the home page. Making the marketing department, and the management, happy - even though customers are disappointed!

But social interactivity is a genuinely useful tool. It means essentially two things - creating open dialog and sharing useful information. One thing that doesn't belong in the picture is company information. It's just bad form to start a conversation by talking about yourself. The choice of medium is important, but it's the underlying aim that is crucial. If there is a genuine desire to open up the communication, this will make itself clear. But, if your company and product info are not promoted, where is the value? The answer is that it is indirect. Customer relationships are improved through active involvement, and your expertise, trustworthiness and intellectual leadership are implicit. In the case of innovation factories, customers can actually contribute to your expertise and product development, too!

The fear of customers damaging your reputation is unrealistic - people using facilities that you host are generally going to behave well. Joining up already shows a degree of loyalty and respect. If you have given a customer cause for complaint, that's an opportunity for you to demonstrate good customer service. If they misunderstand something about your products, that's a great chance to explain it better and share useful information with others. And in the unlikely event that a contributor abuses the medium, it's not you but they who look bad.

The question is simply, what kind of open communication do you want with your customers, and do you have the resources to do it right? How you answer those questions determines the medium you use. If the answer is, we want a feature but not real communication, you are just wasting resources. You need to look at how the web has changed things in the last few years. Information is so open now that buzzwords are of little value - it's now all about being accessible and authentic - the real danger lies in faking it!

Web 2.0 features such as rich content and social networking tools have changed web design fundamentally, creating new businesses and new ways of doing business. This can make it tempting to hand over the whole creation process to your webmaster rather than risk getting out of your depth. However, the single most important aspect of creating a website has not changed at all - writing content that drives your business goals. That means getting the attention of your target customer, keeping it, and persuading them to take the next step. In a high-tech, large sales environment that probably doesn't mean an online order form, but the next step is still crucial, be that joining a mailing list, signing up for an event, or setting up a meeting.

Making this happen probably depends not so much on how sophisticated your website is as how good the content is. Design and online marketing tools enhance content but are no substitute for it. To make sure that your content is effective, you need to stay close to the creative process, and stick to a few golden rules.

So, what are the rules?

1. Know your audience. You need to have a clear idea of exactly which buyer persona / personae will be reading your page, and why they will be reading it. You also need to be clear exactly what you want them to do next (- and make it clear to them, too!).

2. Be friendly. You want to develop a close relationship with the reader, so don't keep them at arm's length. Address them as "you", and use personal examples that will help them see you as a trusted friend.

3. Tell your readers something they want to know. News, useful information, a solution to a problem they have. Ask yourself, "Even if they don't take the next step in the buying process, will they be glad they read this page? Are they likely to use the information here, bookmark the page, or talk to someone else about it?"

3. Headlines are all-important - though writing them can be an art. Lists are good: "10 things you need to know about...". "How To" statements work, too, e.g. "How to increase sales on your website in 3 easy steps". Figures are good: "Why 97% of all our customers say they will buy from us again next time". Problem-solution statements are helpful: "Make certain your software purchases match your business needs, every time." The headline should attract but not mystify readers.

4. Write top-down and use subheads. Many readers scan. They need to see the main points easily, and that means that the crucial information should be visible at a glance. Most important points should be first line, and the subheads should spell out rest of the content clearly. Using bold text for key points also helps.

5. Clean, clear copy. No typos, stick to grammar rules, make the style simple, consistent and effective. Try to use action verbs. You may well need a professional copywriter to write or at least edit your text, but that will be money well spent.

6. Offer a definite benefit in the content, and link it to action. Time-limited or free offers are classic B2C tools, and can work for B2B too, but at the risk of cheapening your image. For B2B, the principle still applies to e.g. papers, webinars, conference tickets, newsletters etc.

7. Use "calls to action" in your copy. Asking people to click a button increases response rates dramatically.

8. Use visuals. Why? Firstly, they will get attention and make your page more interesting. Secondly, they make the product or solution more visually appealing, and your claims more convincing - also maybe easier to understand. Thirdly, they give you an opportunity to repeat the selling message in captions and labels!

9. Monitor effectiveness and revise accordingly. Record your visitor numbers and clicks. Ask your customers what they read, what convinced them, what they discovered when reading the site, how easy it was to understand. A content management system is enormously useful here - though you must be sure to proof your revisions carefully and not complicate site structure.

10. Make your site search-engine friendly. Search engine optimization is a specialized topic, but a couple of key rules are: Use all the key phrases that your prospects will be looking for and that are relevant to your them, and include them in headings where appropriate.