Local SEO Services Carbondale IL

In my work with small, local businesses, I often run into entrepreneurs who feel that the web can't be much benefit to them. They advertise in the newspaper, they rely on word-of-mouth, they don't intend to sell online, or sometimes they're uncomfortable with computers generally. These folks are among the 47% of small business owners who do not have a website — a surprising statistic that nevertheless rings true, in my experience.

But the era of getting by without a web presence is now officially over. In the fall of 2007, Nielsen/Netratings conducted a study on behalf of search marketing firm WebVisible that uncovered a sea change in consumer shopping habits: 73% of respondents stated that search engines are their top resource for finding local businesses, while 85% of 18-24 year olds placed search engines in the top spot. The Yellow Pages came in at 65%, and fewer than half look to such stand-bys as newspapers, radio, and direct mail.

Yowza.

These findings indicate that if search engines can't find your business, neither can many consumers, and that means lost sales every single day — potentially lots of lost sales.

Fortunately, gaining access to search engine placement is not difficult and can be done in a very cost-effective manner, even for free. For many businesses, the return on investment for marketing through search engines is so high that other marketing tactics become occasional expenditures or even unnecessary.

I...

Author: Paula Hay

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