I start my day with coffee and Google. I have my iGoogle home page aggregating information from various business technology, digital and b-to-b marketing, web site design and information architecture sources. I also get Google news alerts on other subjects. The news alerts aren’t always relevant, but there are usually one or two things that interest me.

Today, my web site usability feed had a listing about BMW’s new web site launch, touting that “AJAX technology will increase the site's interactivity, speed, functionality and usability.” Although not a business-to-business web site, I like to stay on top of how leading companies are improving online experiences for customers.

After hanging out on the BMW home page for several minutes (reminder to self-indulgent marketers, this is not what usually happens), I clicked the Dealer Locator. Nothing happened. I tried the “Build My Own” link and had the same delay. Wheels spinning, I gave up. When I went back a few minutes later, everything loaded quickly, and the claims of great web site functionality were right on. But my first impression, after reading the PR Newswire notice about the new optimized web site, was that maybe sending out that press release was premature. Turns out they were ready. But are you?

With the enormous volume of online sources aggregating and distributing information, the reminder to business-to-business marketers is that when you put anything new out there, be ready for people to find it. And not necessarily through the way you anticipated. Not everyone is coming through your home page. And not everyone will wait for your Flash application to load. Or come back if you didn’t load test your site to handle all the traffic coming to download your white paper. So be proactive about your communications; promote your great web site enhancements. But be prepared to deliver.