To have a website on the internet you need  designed web pages, a hosting service and a domain name, but to have a quality website there are other items that every website should have.

Privacy Disclaimer:
Privacy Policy/Disclaimer: Now, I'm not a Lawyer and don't claim to be one, but these two documents should be standard issue for every site you have. People want to know how you're going to use their personal information, and a "privacy policy" does just that. In today's litigious society you'll also need to include a disclaimer/terms of use page. This protects you and spells out to your visitors what they're agreeing to by using your website. If you don't know where to start in generating these documents, you'll find plenty of help online. DMA Privacy Policy Generator OECD Privacy Statement Generator  Google Adsense & other Ad Networks Privacy Policy Generator  Privacy Policy Generator  Free Site Disclaimer. This is not legal advice, and if you need help in this department, consult with a local attorney.

Contact Information:
I can't tell you how many sites I've been to that fail to include a way to contact the owner. If you can't include a phone number, at the very least have an email address or a "contact us" form. By providing this information, you'll make your visitors feel more comfortable knowing there's a way to reach you should the need arise. If you need a form and don't know how to create your own, try one of these free form services. Bravenet   Freedback  Email Me

Search Box:
If your site is rather large, you'll also want to include a way to search, or have what is called a "site map". There are many ways to add a search function to your site, the easiest being to use Google's free service   A site map sounds technical, but it's just one web page that contains links to every page of your site, usually broken down by category.    

Tracking System:
A web counter or hit counter is a computer software program that indicates the number of visitors, or hits, a particular webpage has received. Once set up, these  web counters will be incremented by one every time the web page is accessed in a web browser. A good web counter will tell you more than just how many visitors your site has had. It will gather other important data to have you understand your visitor needs, find errors through the 404 code and find your most popular pages. A good web counter will also tell you how your visitors found your site. It may show you if they came from a search engine, an online link, or just from a bookmark. All this information can help you improve your website and further increase your website traffic.

Consistent Navigation:
This might sound like a no brainer, but many folks get it wrong. No matter what type of menu system you decide upon, make sure it stays the same across the board on all pages of your site. Your job is to guide your visitors through your website, making sure they always know where they are and how to get to where they need to go. If someone isn't happy with your site there a thousand other websites just a click away!

Copyright Notice:
Sounds simple but this is forgotten by many. All pages should include a copyright notice. If you don't want to have to update it manually every year, find a simple Javascript that will automatically do it for you. You'll find one such script at: Uncle Jims