Getting Value from Your Business's Online Presence

Neighbors Can Find You:

Your website will include your address, phone number, hours of operation so that people in your own community can find you.  Increasingly, people are relying on the Internet in the same way that we used to use the Yellow Pages.

Furthermore, search results on Google can show a map of your community with an arrow pointing to your location as well as your competitors.  That map will be at the top of the search results, so you don't want to be left off!

Find More Distant Customers:

You can attract new customers from more distant areas.  Depending upon the nature of your business, they might come from an adjacent neighborhood, across the country or even around the world.

Build an Ongoing Relationship with Customers:

The Internet allows you to communicate, inexpensively, with your current and potential clients.  It will allow you to reduce your advertising expenses (or begin inexpensive advertising, if you don't already advertise).

You can achieve that through adding new content to your web site on a continuing basis and, more importantly, building a mailing list to whom you send regular updates, announcements of specials, online coupons, etc.

Rebrand Your Company for the 21st Century:

Perhaps unfairly, some business prospects will consider you out of touch and behind the times if you don't have a sophisticated online presence.  They will also assume that you may not be keeping up with important trends within your own business specialty.

In addition to this section, be sure to explore the web design section of the site.

If you are in retail or wholesale, you should also look at our relevant section, beginning with this page about starting an e-commerce store.