Not being familiar with this new medium, many companies test the water by putting up a homepage at the least possible cost. The page ends with the customary contact address, phone and fax numbers, and if the company is savvy enough, an email address. This is one long text-intensive page that has not been changed since it was created over two years ago. Soon the company realises that most of the time, the counter increases only when staff proudly visit the site to see how well it's doing - not too many people from outside the company seem to be visiting the page. Then come announcements in newsgroups and online bulletin boards and classifieds listings.
Offline publicity follows too, usually by word of mouth and small press releases.
But before the smiles can be etched on the faces of those related to the development of the homepage, the traffic starts decreasing, sliding down towards the original negligible levels. This is a very important stage - the fingers that control the purse strings either write this entire exercise off as a bad investment and drop it, or realise the potential and decide to go all out to establish an effective online presence. The former results in stagnation and gradual death due to neglect, while the latter leads to the next stage - rejuvenation. This is the turning point for the company's website. The company either forms a team to exclusively look after the site - development, improvement and constant maintenance, or decides to leave the site in the hands of a professional Internet Presence Provider.