Today, successful businesses are businesses that are online. Not only are they aware of social media and networking, but they are businesses that have their own website. If someone finds you online, it needs to be at your web address.

Does Your Small Business Have a Website?

Great article, Vi.
It's interesting how the Internet has changed the face of business. I know a lot of times the first thing I (or anyone in my family, including my mom who used to hate the Internet) will say is to look up the business online. We don't even use the phone directory anymore!

Web presence is important no matter what you do. When I started my pt biz I had a small site that I created myself with godaddy tools. I think it was $4 a month to host and it looked o.k. but what mattered was that I had a place to refer people who found my ad in the weekly entertainment paper.

Many of the people who saw the ad just called but others needed more info before deciding to meet with me so having a site made all the difference and it's what took me from 1 client to a full time roster of clients in 5 short months.

The thing about having a site these days is you need to know how to get it ranked on page one for searches. This is not easy to do with free site or cheap site hosting services.

I love finding all the info I need before making a phone call.

For local businesses online it is an easier task since geo-targeting pulls relevant sites when a user searches because they usually are including where they hope to find the business. Even if you aren't specific, if it is a service of some sort the search engine automatically pulls in local businesses.

Google is using geo-coding to make sure their Adwords ads and other services reach the right audience. Google even adds suggested links that include state or city/state when you start to type your search phrase because it anticipates you might be looking for a business in your area.

That is where a business would hope they have a website so they show up. If they show up Google maps and the link is just back to yellow pages it is not impressive to users.

They will of course need to consider their competition as well for their region. Some business may automatically reach page one by using a handful of keywords including specific geo data. The business with more competition in a denser region will not have it as easy. Having a site though will put them at an advantage as they will build backlinks to it anyways from various business directories and ads.

@Dianne

My Mom is always asking me to look something up. She is in the older baby boomer age, in a rural area and does not have internet access. Believe it or not there are still areas that suffer from only having dial-up available...and slow at that.

I can't tell you how much I'm annoyed that they still deliver the phone directory. I have to find out if it is something you can unsubscribe to, or if it is forced on us because advertisers paid for it.

LOL...Vi, my mom just turned 70 and for YEARS she resisted the Internet and complained that my dad was on it all night. Then...he bought her a laptop as a Christmas gift last year, but ended up giving it to her a couple of months early. O M G. The kids and I still chuckle because now she is always talking about what she has found "on the net," or needs to do some research on products "on the net," has learned e-mail...oh my NOW she watching Youtube videos and can quote artists right along side my kids. It's so funny and so cute!

I think they should really consider making phone books an option. I know a lot of people are not on the Internet and still want phonebooks, that's fine. We receive in 20 every year at work and they sit on the loading dock because no one wants them. It's such a waste of resources.

I bartered with a p.t. studio recently who was showing up on maps but they didn't rank at all for p.t. on search results and they are the only studio in that central location.

In Scottsdale p.t. is so competitive that getting on page one is virtually impossible unless you really know what you're doing. Just using keywords isn't enough. You have to use the right keywords on all your pages along with other local keyword strategies. Most people have no clue how to do this which is probably why B2B SEO is such big business.