A tangled Web we weave.

We were the first regional business magazine to have a presence on the World Wide Web. That was six years ago, in the early days of nando.net , the brainchild of Frank Daniels III, then the executive editor of The News & Observer and a former publisher of BNC. It wasn't much of a presence -- just static frames of the May cover, a ranking lifted from one of the feature stories and that month's Snapshot.

But it was enough to get us up on the Net. Problem was, we never got beyond that. We didn't have the time, manpower or resources to do it right. Besides, nobody was making money with a Web site, and there were easier ways not to make money. Still, it was something we knew that, sooner or later, we had to do.

Exactly two years ago, I announced in this column that we were launching our site that spring. I learned my lesson. I haven't mentioned the site in print again until now -- when it's already up and running.

So, now cud we finally get it done? Like any savvy manager faced with a difficult chore, I delegated it. Late last year, we hired Greensboro native Mike Orren, who had been associate publisher of D, the award-winning city magazine in Dallas, to handle circulation, marketing and special projects. The first project dropped into his lap was our wayward Web site.

"The trouble with a monthly print magazine doing a Web site is that the two media are completely different," Mike notes. "A magazine generates content on a 30-day cycle, while a Web site is often on a 30-second cycle. A magazine brings a depth to a topic that sometimes doesn't translate to the Web. When was the last time you scrolled through a 10,000-word story online? When was the last time you clicked past a site just because it hadn't been updated in the past two days?

"Users visiting a Web site demand instant gratification in terms of interaction that ink and paper can't deliver. Once a magazine is done, it truly is done. We are on to the next issue. A Web site is never truly 'done.' Expect to see the site grow and continue to evolve in the coming months."

One advantage Mike had was the strategic partnership (yep, we're already tossing around hip Internet buzzwords) with GoCarolinas.com, Cox Interactive Media's Charlotte-based portal. "That allowed us to deliver up-to-the-second content to support the magazine's in-depth coverage," Mike says. "It also let us hitch a ride on the technology that someone else had already paid for. That, some good WYSIWYG software, a sketchy understanding of HTML and a sometimes functioning computer created the site we have today."

What Mike forgot to mention are long nights that dragged into the next morning he spent putting it together. "In producing the site, we gained a new appreciation for the breadth of content in our own magazine. The wealth of chart and graph data that we relegate to a supporting role in our stories really takes center stage in the online medium. Service editorial that takes a backseat to investigative journalism in the magazine is a primary draw for the Web site."

To get an idea of what you'll find on Business North Carolina Online, see the ad on page 11. Better yet, aim your browser at www.businessnc.com and check it out for yourself.

David Kinney