staying ahead of the game: the small business owner

of course i am bias to claim that businesses, small or large, need to make sure they have a web presence (the ability to be found easily and readily on the web). it's my job. but i am noticing there is less and less difference between small and large companies and their devotion to build their business online.

outside of the fortune 1000 companies, (who most likely have multiple people devoted to their web presence) i am encountering medium (10-25 employees) to large (25+) companies who haven't made it a priority to build their business online. on the same token, i have dealt with business owners who have spent virtually everything in their pocket to build their presence online. some large companies have stalled while the small business owners have seen a return on their investment (roi).

why is this occurring and where is the disconnect?

i believe part of this is because larger companies haven't made the transition to devote part of their marketing budget to the online medium. they have stuck with a strict, conservative marketing budget that has allowed them to grow, although at a minimum, in the past. "if it isn't broken, don't fix it, right?" the problem is the shifting market and the amount of business acquired online each day (6.9 billion searches were conducted in feb. 2007). this leads us to the small business owner.

in order to compete with the big boys, small business owners are turning to the web for more potential customers and increased sales conversions. with "˜staying ahead of the game' these business owners are attracting and converting visitors of their website.

recently, we had a client (we will call them bizx) come to us with a desire to build their business online. the industry they are in is heavily inundated with franchise businesses, making it seem hard for a small business to compete. after building an initial site and optimizing it for the search engines, we researched and compare the competition. we found that if they devoted six months to the process, they could create a 24/7 sales tool that would attract additional business. the franchises had neglected the online medium and were allowing the small business owner to compete online.

by initially spending 10% of their monthly revenue to build the online infrastructure and 5% to market and advertise, april was their largest month of sales ever. they are "˜staying ahead of the game' and continue to devote time and money to converting clients online.

if you would like to hear more about this case study or have specific questions, you can either comment on this blog or email seo@fgi.com.us.