Online search engines have replaced phone books for 54 of Americans searching for local businesses. As a result, it is now more important than ever for businesses to ensure that they have a high quality online presence. If not, they may never truly realize the power and potential of the Internet to deliver qualified, low cost sales leads.
It s widely accepted that businesses that market online have the ability to both reduce their overall marketing costs while also reaching more targeted prospects in order to add to their bottom line. The Internet is no longer up and coming: it s here and now, and if you re not leveraging it to its full potential for your business, you are significantly reducing the effectiveness of your marketing. If you re currently using direct mail or display advertising as a part of your overall strategy, the Internet can help slash these costs and can even improve response rates from within the local community.
Marketing on the Internet starts with an effective website. A good website is much more than a pretty design it needs to be well designed, well worded and well structured for search engines to present optimum value. At the same time, it must be designed with the ultimate goal in mind: converting visitors into prospects and converting prospects into buyers.
The statistics show that over 60 of local commercial searches result in a purchase. Without an effective online presence for your business, these customers are finding someone else. But with an active campaign to increase your search engine rankings as well as an involvement in online marketing, you can reach these highly targeted prospects to make sure their resulting purchase is from you.
According to a comScore research report, the number of people actually searching for products and services online increased by 21 in 2008. So the Internet is a growing trend and more and more people are looking to buy online.
Why? It s convenient and a great way to save time and often save money too. Remember that a lot of people are time poor in today s hectic 24/7 society. Having more people searching for products and services is one thing. The important question is: are they spending more money online?
A comScore study reported that US e commerce spending in 2008 reached a staggering $214.4 billion a 7 increase over the previous year. So importantly, more people are spending more money online too they re not just information seekers. They ve got cash to spend and they re going to spend it online somewhere.
If you are a business owner, the only question you should ask yourself is: will it be with you or your competitors? In today s marketplace, and today s economy, having an online presence is more important that ever. If your business does not currently have a website, or is not getting the desired results from the one you do have, it may be time to focus on getting it where it needs to be. If not, you may be leaving some very real money on the table.
Author Resource:
Warren Miller is the lead marketing consultant for Lazer Promotions [http://lazerpromotions.com ] - a 'new media' marketing agency that delivers customized solutions using new technologies. They also run the Lazer Alliance [http://lazeralliance.com ] club to help business owners to get ahead online.
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