A common problem facing many small businesses today is building an online presence without spending the big bucks required to compete with national chains. While it's true that you'll never be able to match the marketing muscle of the larger chains, you do have a few tricks up your sleeve to help keep you competitive.
First and foremost, you should have a web site to promote your business. It doesn't have to be anything fancy; it could even be a one-page site that describes your product offerings. The important thing is to have a site that lets potential customers know what you can do for them, and more importantly, where they can find you. When you build your site, make sure to list your address, phone number and email address.
If you're not ready to pay for full-blown web hosting and hire a designer to create your site for you, there are other options at your disposal. Many portals are now offering free or low-cost site hosting and blogs. For as little as $10 a month, you can have a site with your own domain name (i.e. YourCompany.com). This is an easy and inexpensive way to dip your toe into online marketing.
The next thing you should do is make sure your company is listed in the major online yellow page business directories. Most of these directories provide a mechanism for submitting your business for free. The information here will be very similar to what you'd put on your own site.
Just like their offline counterparts, the online yellow pages offer many upgrades to improve the visibility of your company and drive more business to you. These upgrades range from enhanced listings and a more prominent display to full-blown search marketing program designed to help you grow your business.
The important thing to remember is if you're not listed in the directories or visible online, your customers won't be able to find you and will end up going to your competition.
For more information on online yellow page listings, visit www.local.com.
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