Seattle angel investor Geoff Entress has led a $1 million investment in Sampa, money that comes as the Redmond startup unveils new Web site development tools that are easier for average people to use.

The company initially was targeting $500,000 to $750,000, but demand was high for the round among angel investors, said Chief Executive Paul Gross. He declined to disclose the names of other investors, but noted that former executives at Microsoft, Netscape and Lightsurf participated.

Founded in 2005 by former Microsoft development manager Marcelo Calbucci, Sampa has struggled to retain users. About 68,000 Sampa sites have been created, though only about 4,800 of those were active last month. (An active site means a user added content or it had 10 or more page views.)

"It is a free site, so you get a lot of tire kickers," said Gross. "But one of the things we learned with Sampa (version one) is that for the target we are focusing on, we were too hard to use."

About 85 percent of the people who signed up for Sampa dropped off because of usability issues, Gross said.

To correct that problem, the company hired a user experience expert to rework the tools. That redesign is launching today, and Gross is hopeful that it will get people more engaged.

Last month, Sampa's network of sites attracted about 2.3 million page views -- a number that Gross believes is set to grow with the easier-to-use tools.

"We didn't actually add a lot of features, we took many features away to simplify it," he said.

The site is generating less than $1,000 in advertising revenue per month, with Gross saying that the big revenue push will come in 2009.

Sites such as MyFamily.com represent competition, as do wiki creators such as Wetpaint, which also can be used by families to create central online gathering spots for family photos and information.

Gross, the former senior vice president of mobility at Microsoft, thinks Sampa can carve a niche with its simple-to-use templates and publishing tools.

"We don't view ourselves as being the uber Web 2.0 tool," he said. "We are really aiming at people who are typical AOL users who are used to the walled garden and they just want to create a private space for their family."