Even now, some 30 years since MTV famously launched their Beavis and Butthead landing page and in so doing ushered in a new era of business-doing-business on the web, many businesses are, for whatever reason, going without a website.
They may have there own reasons, and I'm not here to judge. I own a couple of classic cars and the mechanics I deal with don't have websites: their businesses are so niche and so uncommon that they don't feel the need to advertise. At all. Fair enough.
But most of us do have to market our businesses. By comparison with most other advertising resources, the web is a comparatively cheap one.
And it is, of course, a huge distribution. So consider some brief stats:
Google trumps Yellow Pages
Yep, the verdict is in: Yellow Pages is out, Google is in. People searching for a product or service are more likely to use Google (31%) than Yellow Pages (30%). If your target market is people aged between 15 and 40, this jumps to a staggering 81% of people preferring Google. Do you really want to miss out on those searches?
Grab a 4 to 1 advantage
If you're a small business, around 80% of your competitors do not have a website. Talk about a potential competitive advantage! That kind of opportunity just doesn't come along very often.
Outstanding value
An eighth-page display ad in Local Directories costs around $1300. For the same money, a website:
- Is not restricted to 1/8 page
- Can be updated as frequently as necessary, not just annually
- Is uniquely your space — your pitch is not competing directly alongside your competitors
- Can grow with your business
- Can present as local or global, depending on your needs
