A new survey shows that businesses that utilise the power of the Internet benefit from an uplift in sales.

According to the FSB’s biennial survey of 8,700 members, nearly half the small companies that use the web to advertise their firm increased turnover by 20%.

The survey also found that 43% of respondents improved their sales after linking to suppliers and using their website to advertise their firm, showing the ever-increasing value of the internet to business transactions, particularly during an economic downturn.

The survey also revealed that the number of small businesses who have their own website has leapt by a quarter to around 70% since the last survey.

When you have your website up and running, you need to generate visitors to your site - otherwise what’s the point of putting all that effort into developing a great website.

Some of the best ways to get traffic to your website is through email marketing, direct mail, strategic ad placement, buzz campaigns, and search engines such as Google, MSN and Yahoo!. To make sure to attract a significant volume of the right type of visitors you need the right research. Good marketing firms can help you understand your particular demographic and help you to develop the strategy that will gain your company visibility. SEO Services can help you work out the keywords you should target to place at the top of search engines.

Popular keywords are very competitive and for a small business it’s virtually impossible to get high rankings when you’re competing against thousands of other companies with bigger resources. Niche keyword marketing tactics yield better results in less time and can effective separate your company for the rest of the competition.

More and more small businesses are realising the importance of an effective website. However, many websites owners make some elementary mistakes. To stop you from falling into the same trap, we have an excellent guide on ‘Classic small business website design mistakes you must avoid.

By - Business121.co.uk 2008

WHO ARE YOU?
Does your homepage have your logo prominently displayed in the top left area? Can I go to your home page and click a link for email or find your telephone number? If not, smack your Web developer and tell them that contact information is critical to your site visitors and it shouldn’t be hidden on the “contact us” page.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Your mission and vision are lovely sentiments, but I want to know what you do. Can I use your services? Do you sell to my business or are you wholesale only? How do I find out what products you sell and what they cost? If your site says, “Call for pricing,” I’m not calling because someone else displays the price online. Is there a single statement that says what you do or sell smack in the middle of your homepage?
WHERE IS IT?
Does your site have a homepage search field? If your links aren’t complete or itemized, I’m not clicking all over to find what I want because I’m a firm believer in single-clicking to get where I want to be. Give me a search box, please.
OUCH! MY EYES!
Did you go through your font list for the weirdest fonts that exist, add neon color and then enlargify them? Don’t think I’m going to use my credit card on a site that drips bright colors in a mishmash of fonts (or for that matter, on a site whose home page is titled, “Home Page”).

BIGGER ISN’T BETTER
Did you take the photo on your homepage with your new digital camera and then slap it up on the Web site, maybe dragging the corners to make it smaller? That giant photo (which only looks smaller) takes at least 20 seconds to load in my browser and I’ve already clicked the next link in my Google search results. If you don’t know how to work with photos on the Web, hire someone who does.

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!
While it’s true that Flash-driven sites are very cool and some spectacular, when I hit a Flash-only site, I rarely hang around for the file to play. When I see one that’s fresh, I might watch it but soon I’m off to another site where I can buy something. Generally, if you’re selling anything online, lose the total-page Flash and make the site look sleek, professional and trustworthy.

TOO BIG, TOO SMALL, JUST RIGHT
It’s difficult to know what size monitors your visitors have, so why is your home page so wide that it doesn’t fit in my browser window? Scrolling left-to-right is a big no-no on a homepage (or any other page). If you’re not sure how to make the page flexible, then make it wide enough for an average monitor (750 pixels, and if you don’t know what pixels are, please hire a Web person).

NEW FROM 2004!
If your homepage has news or upcoming events and the latest one happened in 2004, get it off your homepage. In fact, get “news” off your homepage because no one updates their site often enough. Is your photo album so hopelessly out of date that you can’t identify the pictures? (Hint: lose the calendar. No one uses it. If you’re event-driven, get one from Google.)

HELP! I’M LOST!
Navigation (links) should be clear, logical and intuitive. If I can’t find what I want from your homepage, I’m leaving. Write a simple outline of what pages you want on your site. (Remember the Roman numerals and capital/small letters from seventh grade? That’s an outline.) Give that to your Web developer and wait for the kiss that is sure to follow.

NOTHING TO SAY?
If you have nothing to say, delete that page from your site. Bigger isn’t better and there are no prizes for number of links on your homepage. You need concrete information that visitors and buyers want to read and not a lot of fluff, but we expect at least one fluffy page (usually “About Us”).

A small business Web site is a single chance you have to grab visitors’ attention, tell them that you have the products they want and turn it into a sale or at least an online contact. Look around the Web at great home pages – or sites from which you regularly plunk down that credit card – and make your homepage equally compelling and trustworthy. Repeat after me: Webmaster is a real job. Hire someone or outsource it.

by Sue Polinsky
http://www.downloadsquad.com

With the continuing growth of the Internet, more and more small businesses are going online. If you remain unconvinced, here are some compelling reasons why every small business should have a website…..

Brochure

Even if your company does not conduct any business online, with so many potential clients now web-enabled, you should treat your website as an online brochure. Even a simple website can provide clients with an overview of your business, your key services / products, and contact details. How many times have you looked up a company to find directions to their offices, for example?

Low Cost

You can set up a simple website for around 2-3k , and annual hosting on a shared web server will set you back less than $250. You may need to pay someone to help you with site updates if you have no in-house technical expertise, but the costs really are very low compared to other business expenses.

Global Reach

The very nature of the World Wide Web is that there are no boundaries. In many cases, small businesses may have a local customer base, but others (particularly those who’re selling products online) will instantly gain a global audience for their wares.

Easy to Update

Rather than re-printing thousands of product brochures, or company guides, you can update your company information in minutes via a website, saving a lot of time and money. If you use a CMS (Content Management System), you don’t need to have any technical knowledge in order to update your website, and write new content.

Test New Products & Services

A website is the perfect place to test new ideas. You might want to test different product descriptions to see which perform best in your online store, or try different pricing structures for the services you provide. You can make changes to your site instantly – keep what works well, and change things which don’t – rapidly, and with minimal cost.

Online 24/7

Your small business website will be available 24/7, 365 days a year. A potential client can find out more about your company, or simply find out a contact email address at any time of day. If you are selling online, customers can be placing orders while you’re asleep!

Sell Online

There are massive financial and time benefits to be had from selling online. You can outsource your entire transaction process for pennies (to companies such as Paypal and Worldpay), or seamlessly integrate your “sales window” with global giants such as eBay. You can set up your own online shop for a few hundred dollars.

Save Money

Moving your business (or just a part of it) online will save you money. The savings can be as small as the difference between corresponding with clients via email, compared to the cost of a landline call. If you spend time on web marketing, you can also gain new customers via search engines (such as Google and Yahoo!) – at minimal cost.

Win-Win

For some small businesses, going online could result in serious efficiency and financial benefits. For many others it can simply provide potential clients with another way of finding out about your company and how to get in touch. You cannot lose by having a website for your business.

Bytestart Limited