An Easy Way To Make Your Small Business More Visible-For Free
Summary:
No two small
businesses are alike, but most want to be like their larger counterparts in
some key respects.
Keywords:
An Easy Way To
Make Your Small Business More Visible-For Free
Article Body:
No two small
businesses are alike, but most want to be like their larger counterparts in
some key respects. For example, even if you own a company with only a few
really great customers, you want to be visible enough to attract new customers,
boost your odds of securing repeat business, and do all you can to improve
customer satisfaction.
The key, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), is having a
business Web site. The SBA's own Web site notes that the Web "levels the
playing field between small business and big business" because it is such
a dynamic, inexpensive medium for advertising and customer service. "The
Internet is making it possible for small- to medium-sized businesses to compete
with the big guys," the SBA said.
Conventional wisdom says that any business without a Web presence these days is
at a distinct disadvantage, but the latest International Data Corporation (IDC)
small-business research exposes a surprising gap. The IDC research found that
of the 6.8 million businesses in the United States with fewer than 10
employees, only 3.8 million have a Web site. "That means 3 million U.S.
small businesses 44 percent of the totaln't using the Internet to
promote themselves online or engage customers and prospects," said Ray
Boggs, vice president of Small/ Medium Business and Home Office Research at
IDC. "In today's connected world, companies that take that step generally
find that having their own Web site can deliver a significant opportunity to
grow their business, especially if the site is updated regularly."
Clearly, small businesses (and many of their customers) are online, yet more
than half aren't exploiting the full power of what the Internet can do to help
build their business. That power includes creating a dynamic Web site to
attract and retain customers, taking advantage of search engines to heighten
awareness of a company in today's global marketplace, and communicating with
customers around the clock or at their convenience.
What stops small businesses from stepping up to this level? For many, the
barriers are cost, complexity, and inconvenience. By its nature, a small
business typically has a small budget and an equally small staff. Unlike the
larger companies it competes with, a small business generally can't
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