Start Here: What Does Your Internet Presence Do For You?
Every business has an Internet Presence…whether you have a web site or not.
How is that? Simple. If your business has a telephone, a regular plain old telephone service line, then you have an Internet Presence. Over 68% of Americans turn to the Internet FIRST to find a business, more than all other methods combined! Companies like IdeaArc and Yellow Publishers make millions each year gathering, creating, and presenting an Internet Presence for as many businesses as they possibly can. They are looking for you!
So why do you care? Again, simple. But for a few minor players, these online directories, which also feed their products to all the major search engines, also give their users the opportunity to comment on and rate their experience with your business. Combine this capability with the notion that one happy customer will tell three of their friends while one unhappy customer will tell ten and you should begin to see the emerging picture. Are you willing to let your entire Internet Presence be driven by your customers and clients? Or would you prefer to have some say in the matter?
Fortunately there is a very simple way to participate in the process… build your own Internet Presence. Extend your existing brand into the infinite space of the Internet and you get to present your business to the denizens of cyberspace the way you want it. Clearly these directories and similar sites will still afford their users an opportunity to comment about you and now with your own web site you will have an opportunity to join in the conversation.
Don’t think that just because you don’t have a web site means you don’t have an Internet Presence, you certainly do. By contributing your own web site in the mix, you get to provide information and influence to your existing and potential customers and increase your overall customer satisfaction and commensurately, customer sales.
Next time: What Type of Web Site Do You Need?