Wish you had a budget for a sales team to promote your local business’ products and services to hundreds, even thousands of potential customers everyday?

Looking for a better way to attract new customers in a tough economy?

Well the solution to this common business dilemma is an undervalued asset that most companies already have. Most small businesses today have a website. Having one is now part of being considered a legitimate and serious organization. However, it is an often overlooked aspect of a small business’s marketing strategy. The vast majority of small businesses today rely on their local markets for most of their revenues. The traditional media tools to promote small businesses today are changing dramatically. How many people do you know that read the local newspaper daily compared to those that are online daily? The newspaper business and the challenge it faces from the internet has been a landmark example in the transition from old media to new.

So why aren’t local businesses utilizing their websites as a primary vehicle to market their products and services? The answer is that national and international businesses have the resources to hire a staff of web marketing professionals to optimize their websites for high search engine rankings. When this process is properly implemented, it results in high rankings for the company when their targeted keywords are entered on popular search engines like Google. Consider that a city like Los Angeles may have several bakeries. Unlike car insurance which can be purchased online without visiting a local business, a bakery depends on the proximity of residents. So if Joe’s Bakery for example were to optimize its website with keywords like "Los Angeles bakery" the end result is higher rankings on search engines and being found by local customers. If Joe further decided to optimize his website and used the keywords "Los Angeles wedding cakes" he can then expect more inquires and ultimately more sales for that particular item.

Search Engine Optimization companies now can provide a scaled down version of the techniques that Fortune 1000 companies use to guarantee high rankings. The same strategies are effective for local businesses. Pricing depends usually on how many web pages and keywords are to be optimized.

America’s small business community can now leverage an asset that sometimes is just part of the cost of doing business. The well optimized website can lead to thousands of unique visitors each day. That kind of website traffic can transform a business’ bottom line. It can also be the difference between surviving or thriving in the current economic climate.