Websites are either done by staff from within the company or they pay an outside firm to design and maintain it for them.
If a company does it "in-house," they need experienced personnel on the payroll. Not all knife companies are big enough to support that kind of marketing and design staff. But, being done in-house allows for changes that are easier and quicker to make. Sometimes even up-to-the-minute.
If they have an outside firm design and maintain it, it will likely be more attractive (depending on who does it and how much they pay to have it done). In this case, every time the knife maker wants to update the site, they need to contact the design company and negotiate the changes (submitting photography, text, approving layout, etc)...that equals time and money and many knife makers don't have. Many design firms offer a maintenance schedule where the company in question can have their web site tweaked regularly (like monthly) for a flat monthly fee. Unfortunately, many companies don't take the design firm up on this feature.
Having and maintaining a quality web page can be a time-consuming (and costly) effort for a small/medium company to possess.
I only say this to shed light on the process and why updates are not as quick as customers may want. It comes down to the company's priorities, commitment to their site, time allotment, and budget. Sometimes, hard things to come by.
The area I'd most like to see improved are pictures of knives that are of better quality, more detailed, and offer more views of the same knife. Especially the new stuff...and prototypes.
I'm a web junkie and like great sites. Updated info only makes my on-line experience better. So, I personally agree with you.
Ron@SOG
------------------
Website:
www.sogknives.com
Email:
ron@sogknives.com
