Most Small Business Look Online for Other Small Businesses

Did you know that 63% of small business owners in North America make the internet their first source for information on other local small businesses?

Meanwhile, only 42% of small businesses have a website!

Doesn't that not make sense?! Other small businesses want to find you but they can't! Instead, they may wind up at a competitor just because that business were prepared with a website of their own.

I'll make a hypothesis: that small businesses don't have websites because:

1. they are too busy
2. building websites is not their thing
3. they think that gaining an online presence will cost too much and take too long
4. they still think that in THEIR small town word of mouth still works just fine.

Does YOUR small business have a website? Is it listed in places where people will find you and know what services or products you offer?

There is a significant disconnect between the way small business owners act as consumers vs. the way they market their businesses online. [Webvisible and Nielsen report]

The research brought to light some other significant facts that you should consider in planning your own marketing efforts:

Of those surveyed, 50% said search engines were the first place they looked when seeking a local business, while 24% chose the Yellow Pages directories.

Think about that

Less than a quarter of small businesses are turning to the Yellow Pages to find other small businesses!

Almost 40% of searchers say they frequently cannot find what they are looking for in local search! Furthermore, searchers say they usually turn to similar businesses (not always local) that have an online presence!

Are you willing to pass up customers by avoiding a web presence?

GET ONLINE!

(It's easier than you think)

First, what does being online mean?

• you're open all the time,
• you get a larger audience
• you can get instant feedback.

Getting online can be free, seriously! or it can cost just a little. The key is not in how much you spend, but in how wisely you spend it. Have you viewed small business pages that, to put it mildly, sucked? And they sucked because they were messy or overdone or they didn't actually tell you wanted to know? I know I have.

Make Your Web Presence Intelligently!

Use these sites to show yourself off:

• Facebook
• Google Business Solutions
• HubPages
• Squidoo
• Twitter

They are all free and they will help generate links to your main website, which, by the way, could be any one of these.

Google Business Solutions is very useful and you should NOT miss out on it. When people search for your product or service from a computer that is in proximity (defined by you) to your business, your business information will come up first, like this:

Have you seen those before? Wouldn't you like to be in the top five when people search for your product/service? You will be. Plus, for free you can upload pictures of your products along with pricing and other information. For free you can create your own online catalog complete with secure shopping cart! 

Hubpages and Squidoo Lenses are called Parasite Hosting sites because you get to ride their coattails onto the search engines for free! Both sites let you set up a page of your own with whatever links you like. Set up both and link back to each other and your main site (if you have one). 

Search Engines Love Squidoo and HubPages!

They are both considered "authority sites" by search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo, for example), so if you are there your site is considered important. I find my Hubpages get ranked on page one of Google results within a day or so!

Keep Your Website Simple! K.I.S.S.

If you are ready to build a website, remember, Keep It Simple Stupid! You don't need music or weird flash thingies. Your customers want to know what you got and how to get it! And the easier you make this for them the better. Hire someone if you need to, but don't let them run amok with whatever cool stuff they just learned in college!

Site Design Tips:

• Don't use weird colors
• Don't have a dark background with dark text
• Have pictures, at least a few, of yourself your products or place of business
• Have a page or section where you say who YOU are and why you love your business
• Don't use any weird Flash thingies... did I say that already? Repeat it back... 
• Focus on your product or service, you don't necessarily have to list prices, use your discretion
• Have your contact information FRONT AND CENTER, easy to find... put it several places!
• Include an email in your contact information! then, don't forget to CHECK YOUR EMAIL!

I'll write more on this in later posts, so check back!

Here is a Microphone Test

I am testing my microphone and recording area for sound quality. This is a sound file you can listen to for a sample.

I Found an Excellent Book on Internet Marketing

Interested in Web Marketing?

I am recommending the book, Web Marketing for Dummies, for those of you who are learning about Internet Marketing (IM). I have looked at a lot of books on the subject and I bought this book for these reasons:

• It's Eight (yes 8) books in one, nearly 900 pages of well written material,
• 
  
  
  It's only $42 at Chapters, or see below for a way better deal at Amazon,
• 
  
  
  The book comes with a $25 Adwords gift so you can try out a PPC (pay per click) campaign with google

DeadlineHelper: first post!

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