The voice of a deluded mind says, “My business doesn’t need to be on the web!”

Ok, so you can say what you want to try to convince yourself that you don’t need a website for your business. The fact is though, that you are only fooling yourself. Everyone needs to be on the web—whether it is just to be listed with the search engines or a full blown website, if you have a business, you need to be on the web. The age of the phone book is dead. Don’t get me wrong—phone books can still be found; the question is, how many of your potential clients are looking in the phone book to find you. In all likelihood, if someone is looking for a business in your field, they are probably doing so via the web. Granted, there are people who don’t have internet access or may not know how to utilize it, but those people and those days are far and few between.

The reality is, consumers turn to the web when searching for a business, not their local phone book. The other factor to consider is the business you lose by not having a presence. Most phone number look-ups are done online. So if a consumer already knows your business exists but cannot find it on the web, you run into another problem—credibility. A consumer is less likely to do business with a company that has no Internet presence. Whether it be a listing on Google, a web page, or Facebook page, the lack of a presence can be more harmful than no presence at all.
Today, if you have a business, then you need to be on the web.

Don’t forget—even if your business is not using the web, your clients and potential clients are. You are better off offering them a forum to talk about your business, where you can interact and have some control over the conversation. Not that you can control what people say, but you can respond to customers and offer open dialogue, which will help build trust with potential customers.