For Decades, Local Mom And Pop Businesses Could Rely On Word Of Mouth Andtraditional Print Services To Garner Customers. If The Local Businesses Hada Good Or Service That They Wanted To Promote, They Could Just Call Up Thelocal Newspaper And Ask For An Advertisement. However, As Media Has Evolvedtowards More Sophisticated Routes Such As The Internet, It Has Becomeincreasingly More Difficult (and Oftentimes Prohibitively Expensive) Forlocal Businesses To Stand-out Against The Crowd By Advertising In Both Newerand Older Types Of Media.Yet, Local Businesses Continually Find Themselves Facing A Problem. Aspotential Customers Become More Internet Savvy, Local Companies Could Bedoing Themselves A Great Disservice By Not Having Some Sort Of Exposure Onthe Internet.According To Kelsey Research, 70 Of US Households Now Use The Internet Whensearching For Local Products And Services. In Fact, It Is Projected Thatover 20 Billion Searches For Local Information Will Be Made In 2007. 75 OfInternet Users Have Looked For Services And Products Within An Area Close Totheir Home Or Business. Moreover, Recent Internet Studies Have Found Thatsome Of The Most Searched Queries In Search Engines Such As Google Or Yahooare Words Such As Local Business, Free, Discount, Cheap, And Other Termsbearing The Connotation That The Searcher Is Looking For Something Topurchase.Although Many May Be Trying To Look For Cheap Electronics That Can Beshipped To Their Homes, It Is Also Extremely Apparent That Consumers Aresearching For Businesses In Their Local Area That They Can Patronize. Mostconsumption On A Day To Day Basis Is Not On Items Such As Electronics Thatcan Be Purchased Online. People Need Automotive Services, Tutors, Daycare,lawn Care, Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Salons, Plumbers, And Much, Muchmore Within A Few Miles Of Their House. These Daily Rituals That We Allengage In Are All Predicated On Knowing Where To Find Business. And Asmentioned Above, With An Abundance Of People Turning To The Internet To Findout Where Well Priced, Convenient Goods And Services Are Located, Even Asmall Internet Presence Can Skyrocket A Business.Unfortunately, The Typical Local Business Doesn't Have A Lot Of Money Tospend On Internet Exposure. Even If They Do Have The Finances To Build Awebsite, The Process Can Be Cumbersome And Somewhat Daunting For Thegenerations Of Small Business That Aren?t Well-read In The Ways Ofcyberspace. If The Typical Website Can Run Anywhere From Hundreds Tothousands Of Dollars, Is It Still Worth Creating? Even If You Get Thewebsite Up And Running, How Will People Find You? How High Will You Beranked On Search Engines? If You Are Like Me, All The Worry Involved Takesaway Time From All The Daily Customer Service Issues That Come With Theterritory Of Owning A Business. Why Should You Spend An Inordinate Amount Ofmoney When There Is No Guarantee Of Getting More Customers For Your Trouble?Many Are Pushed Away Because The Return On Investment Just Doesn't Seemworth It.If This Is What You Think, Perhaps You Can Consider Many Other Low Costoptions For Your Small Business To Get Attention And Some Exposure On Theweb. Something As Simple As A Facebook Or Myspace Account Can Be Used Togarner Advertisement For Your Business. The Internet Is All About Contentand Link Popularity, And Having Even A Little Bit Can Help. However, Thereare Services That Are Beginning To Expand The Range Of Possibilities Forlocal Businesses And Cater Explicitly To Them. Websites Such Aswww.Cityslick.net And Www.Merchantcircle.com Allow Companies To Create Locallistings Whereby Customers Can Put Basic Contact Information, Slogans,product Descriptions And Photos, Customizable Coupons, Appointmentgenerators, Documents, Social Bookmarking, And Much More. The Terrific Partabout Websites Like These Is That They Are Not Static; Companies Do Notsimply Post A Listing And Hope For Customers To Show Up. Consumers Canbrowse, Request Deals, Request Appointments, Chat With Other Consumers Andbusinesses In The Forums, And Leave Reviews.If You Decide To List On A Business Directory Website, Make Sure That Theyare Doing Their Best To Get You The Most Exposure Possible. According Towww.webworkshop.net, Link Text (the Text That Is Clicked On When Clicking Ona Link) Is Singly The Most Important Factor When Google Determines Therankings For Any Given Search-term. To Help A Small Local Business Websitegrow In This Fashion, It Is Critical That Business Owners Submit To Localdirectories That Can Provide Custom Back Links.www.Cityslick.net In Particular Is Proactive In Its Approach To Ensure Thatthese Sorts Of Interactions Occur. By Using The Latest Search Engineoptimization (SEO) Techniques, They Are Drawing Customers To The Website Notonly By Promoting It As A Way To Find Cheap, Local Deals, But They Are Alsomaking It So That Listings, Just By Themselves, Have The Same Sort Ofvisibility As Traditional Websites.Local And Small Business Owners Have A Multitude Of Things To Worry Aboutincluding How To Best Promote Their Venture. By Using The Internet To Postto Sophisticated Business Directories, Companies Can Get All The Benefits Ofhaving A Website Without Having To Pay A Lot Of Money For Their Own Website.Take A Look. Your Customers And Business Will Thank You For It.
