Visitors to Cancer.org select the type of user they are?such as a brain cancer patient, ACS supporter, cancer survivor or healthy person seeking to prevent cancer. The website is then personalized for that user. The site for brain cancer patients, for instance, points them to specific discussion groups, tools like the Cancer Profiler to help them decide on treatment and information on the Relay for Life (an annual event that celebrates survivorship). ACS supporters are directed to local volunteer opportunities, a donation form and online philanthropist communities.

The new site also in-corporates local information. "We knew from the questions we got to our call center that people first want to know things like, ’Where can I find a support group in my community?’ or ’How can I get a ride to my cancer treatment?’" says Music. Now the 3,400 ACS offices provide that type of local information directly on the site.

Reorganizing content and enhancing features isn’t a new philosophy for ACS. Since it first went online in 1995, the site has been in a nearly constant state of evolution. Seven years ago, Cancer.org was your garden-variety homepage. "It was ugly," Miller remembers, "but the ACS saw that the Internet was an important new channel and knew they had to have something up."

Then in 1999, driven by competition such as Oncology.com, Cancersource.com and Lifespire.com, Miller and Music began the multimillion-dollar redesign for 2001. "One of the first things I saw at the peak of the Internet bubble was that we were at a competitive disadvantage with all of what we called the Cancer.coms popping up," Miller says. "We thought, Wait a minute. We’re better than them. So we started to focus on who we were, who our customers were and how we could best serve them."

Even during those two years of planning, Miller and Music made changes to the site. In October 2000, they did a refresh, which reorganized the 8,000 pages of content, giving the site a consistent visual design, navigation and framework. The constant improvements are necessary because ACS is no different from any other business trying to survive online. "We never think about it from a nonprofit point of view," Music says. "We make business decisions."

Music’s advice for other Web businesses is simple. "Think about the customer," she says. "Meet the customer when they arrive, and make their experience the best it can be." Then make it even better.