It’s fairly easy to get people to stay inside your store once you get them there but getting them to linger on your Web site—now, that’s tough.

If something frustrates them, “one click and they’re gone,” says Greg Koorhan, vice president, marketing and corporate development at New York-based Bowne Internet Solutions, a unit of global financial printer, Bowne & Co. Inc.

Are you in the process of having a Web site developed? Then take some advice from Koorhan and Texas Web master Rebecca Game, founder of www.digital-women.com, a site for women entrepreneurs. You want to create a site that’s simple and appealing so that customers will want to linger on and come back.

Keep your home page simple and easy to navigate. The home page is like a store’s front window, says Koorhan. In a split second, people decide whether to enter and stay. Quickly show them what can be achieved on the site. “Do that through organized information and by using words that people understand. Try not to use industry jargon. People get scared.”

Put a privacy statement on the home page. “People need to feel confident and in control if they’re going to give you any kind of information,” Koorhan says. “Insert a privacy policy right on the bottom of your home page so they can click on it. Tell them how you will—and won’t—use any information you collect about them. Need sample language? Go to www.bowneinternet. com and click “Privacy Policy.” While there, check out the Web sites that Bowne developed. Click “Success Stories.”

Provide an order form for clients who don’t trust the Internet. Give them the option of printing out an order form and mailing or faxing it in with credit card information. “They hear so much news about people’s credit card numbers being stolen,” says Game. “It’s less likely they’ll buy if they don’t trust.”

Provide contact information on every page. Put a contact user link that they can click on, or an address bar, at the top or bottom of each page, urges Game. “They need that information, especially if they’re ordering something. If they can’t contact you, they’ll get more upset by the minute.”

Don’t make it mandatory to register before entering. That’s like walking up to a stranger and asking for personal information, says Koorhan. “You’re trying to build trust.” If you want visitors to register, provide “a clear opt-out” for those who wish to browse the site without giving up private information.

Update your site and keep it fresh. If you don’t, “it’s like driving the same road,” says Game. “You miss what’s there.” Careful, though. While it’s advisable to update information and add new or improved features, avoid frequent major facelifts, unless you’re a web designer showcasing your talent, warns Koorhan. “When you’re trying to establish your brand design, you want to build upon a singular look or feel. You only change the look for a reason.”

Add an auto-responder. Customers get upset if they think nobody’s there, says Game. Auto-responders provide an instant e-mail response to assure customers that help is on the way or their order has been received or to convey other pertinent information. “It gives the customer confidence that somebody’s there,” says Gamble, even if they’re at the beach. No business owner can be online 24 hours a day.

You want more tips? Go to www.digital-women.com/design-index.htm. You want a price quote on a Web site? Fill in the online form. If the stakes are high; meaning that you’re investing a lot in your Web site and are therefore expecting substantial returns, “you may want to spend a few thousand bucks and have your site professionally tested and analyzed at one of Bowne’s usability labs.

If people have a good experience on your Web site, they probably will linger on—and come back again .