1. Your Business Is Being Judged By Its Web Presence<br />Everyone has heard the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. Well, in today’s business world you can think of your company as the book and its cover as your web presence, and yes, you are being judged accordingly. Without even realizing it everything about your business (the brand, the products, the services, the reputation) is being evaluated daily based on your web presence or lack thereof. If you don’t have a website or your website can’t be found easily you are viewed as outdated and unprofessional and in some cases, as untrustworthy. The harsh reality is that your web presence plays a large role in generating or losing business. <br />For example, let’s say that “John” moved to a new area and is looking for a new dentist. His insurance company gives him the names of 3 dentists that are close to where he lives. What does John probably do next? He searches for these dentists online to find out more information. Dentist #1 has no website for the practice and all that is found is the office phone number and location. Dentist #2 has a website, but it’s outdated and very basic. The website content is limited to contact information and hours of operation. Maybe it has a picture of the staff, but even that looks like it was taken in 1992. Dentist #3 has a modern, user-friendly website that includes all of the information that you’d ever need to know, including the names of all of the dentists in the practice and background information for each, procedures that they do on site, insurance that is accepted, and patient testimonials. Who do you think John will choose? Dentist #1 and Dentist #2 may be just as good at what they do as Dentist #3, but Dentist #3 was smart enough to understand how people do research and make decisions. So, how can your business be judged more accurately?<br />The first step is to have a website. A business without a website is like a book that doesn’t have a cover at all. There is no title, no description, no images, no reviews, and no author. If you saw this book in a bookstore, would you be motivated to buy it? Sure, there are some interesting folks out there that might find this approach to be “artsy” and “intriguing” and buy it, but the majority will not. They won’t even notice it amongst all of the other interesting books. Simply stated, a business website is a necessity. As they say, “go big or go home”. There is no point in setting up a site that’s lousy looking because that is just as bad (if not worse) than not having a website at all. Spend the time and money on setting up a great website. <br />Once you have a fully functional website up and running, it’s time to implement an SEO campaign. If you don’t know anything about SEO, hire someone that does. Search engine optimization involves making changes to your website and participating in link building activities in order for the search engines to find and deliver targeted visitors to your website. This step is crucial for businesses that want to grow and expand their existing consumer or client base. <br />About the Author:<br />Brick Marketing is a full service internet marketing company. For more information please call 877-295-0620 or visit http://www.brickmarketing.com. <br />