Fire up Net Minder and keep an eye on how often your competion updates or changes. Consult with your webmaster if you find something at one of the following sites you would like to use in your own site. Freecode is a good starting point for finding java, javascript and CGI programs. Browse around to get a better understanding of what the webs capabilities are even for a small site. A little more in depth variety of cgi programs available.
Some programs are free and other for sale.
Once you have your site built the real work begins. We can help you decipher statistics or try and help you better your search engine position. The bottom line to many successful web sites is the amount of time, energy and resources any person or company is willing to commit. Nothing beats going straight to a search engine and searching for your website to check its position. However, this site provides a fairly good barometer to check your position on the search engines.