Maintaining a Web Presence in a Recession

According to research from Webvisible and Nielsen, 63% of consumers and small business owners turn to the internet first for information about local companies and 82% use search engines to do so, only 44% of small businesses have a website and half spend less than 10% of their marketing budget online. Small business owners behave like consumers - they use the net to research products and to search for the best price, however there is a significant disconnect between the way small business owners act as consumers vs. the way they market their businesses online. Why is this? Perhaps because there’s a misconception that it requires large marketing budgets to create a website. Not these days. You can get domain and hosting packages for under $10 a month from GoDaddy. For a basic site, most systems will have an easy to use template. If you want something a little more professional, there are tons of website designers you can negotiate a good rate in this economy. (Check out Craigslist.) And then there’s video uploads, blogging and social networking to create a buzz for your business. Twitter and Facebook cost you nothing. The survey also found that search engines are the most popular source for finding local information: 50% said search engines were the first place they looked when seeking a local business, while 24% chose the Yellow Pages directories. As the recession continues to hit marketing budgets, it is even more important to not make the knee jerk reaction and cut Internet advertising. Maintaining a web presence is key to survival. Post a comment or contact me on businessissuestoday.com