The web is where we go to find things—that somewhere special to eat tonight, the directions to guide us there and suggestions for that one-of-a-kind present for the birthday girl. Ninety-seven percent of Americans are looking online for local goods and services using their computers and mobile devices.via The web is working for American businesses | Official Google Blog.
I read this recent post on Google's blog. You know, that search engine company that branched out to world domination?
Josh and I are nearly always working on liveBatavia in some capacity, and one of the questions/adversities that we sometimes encounter is that local businesses don't think that the web can work for them. We explain that it can, if you do it right.
We've all heard the success stories from massive companies like Amazon. If you're looking, you'll find plenty of success stories from small hometown businesses as well. So why is it that local businesses think that the web won't work for them? Here are the complaints we've come across:
- It's too expensive
- It's too time consuming
- No one can find my site
- There's little return on investment
- It's too complicated
Having done web development for years, I know that the above aren't true or easily solved. So somewhere along the line things got very very mixed up, and I think we all share the blame. Over the next few weeks I'll be writing entries that deal with the above list. We'll look into where the issue comes from, how it got so bad, and what the solution is.
One thing I see from working with lots of small businesses on their Internet marketing, is they want to treat there online presence like any other advertising campaign (IE Radio/TV/Print).
Truth be told the Internet, in most cases, is not a short term gratification engine, and this changes how it needs to be approached significantly. When you run a TV ad, you get a quick response while the ad runs, and when the ad spend stops, so does the ROI.
With the Internet you plant seeds that grow for weeks, months, even years, and the rewards for that planting happens over and over for years to come if done properly well after the money invested stops.
Its a very clear case of the turtle winning the race over the hare, but in the short term it scares many small businesses into not making this necessary investment.
One thing I see from working with lots of small businesses on their Internet marketing, is they want to treat there online presence like any other advertising campaign (IE Radio/TV/Print).
Truth be told the Internet, in most cases, is not a short term gratification engine, and this changes how it needs to be approached significantly. When you run a TV ad, you get a quick response while the ad runs, and when the ad spend stops, so does the ROI.
With the Internet you plant seeds that grow for weeks, months, even years, and the rewards for that planting happens over and over for years to come if done properly well after the money invested stops.
Its a very clear case of the turtle winning the race over the hare, but in the short term it scares many small businesses into not making this necessary investment.