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Keep it simple, keep it updated, and figure out who's using it.

One intranet expert says those three things should be the tenets of corporate intranets, which often are either bogged down with too much information, or they're left to wither on the vine, with few meaningful updates.

"The biggest thing lacking on an intranet is ease of use," said David Cummings, president of web content management provider Hannon Hill, based in Atlanta. Cumming said that as more companies publish training materials, announcements, memos, and HR information on their intranets, these sites could quickly become cluttered and less functional. He and his company offer ten steps to improve your intranet (see below.)

"(These steps) came from working with clients over the years that implemented our software for their intranet," he said. "We always work hard to develop best practices and share them."

Hannon Hill makes Cascade Server, a mid-market web content management system that specializes in managing large, non-transactional sites (intranet, Internet, extranet, etc). Clients include Duke University, Carnegie Mellon University, MCG Health Systems, PGP Software, Reed College, and SCOREGolf Magazine. Cummings founded Hannon Hill in 2001.

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Intranets in recent years have grown to include many newer technologies, like RSS, company blogs, and wikis. Cummings says that's all fine and good, but, regardless of the technology, "it all comes down to people keeping timely and fresh content on it."

Of all the newer technologies, Cummings recommends wikis to make the intranet or a section of the site as simple as possible to allow people to contribute and collaborate around content.

Cummings said that "whether a company is starting from scratch or freshening up a languishing intranet, following the steps we've outlined will ensure it becomes a valuable asset for the employees."

10 Tips to a Useful Intranet