In these difficult financial times, it would appear that more and more people are moving towards the internet for purchases and away from conventional high street shops. But does every firm need to have a web site?

There will be those firms that probably do not need a web site, such as a small greengrocer who may well have stock that is only on the shelf for a few days at the most and so does not lend itself to online marketing. Probably the best option for companies such as this is to have an entry in Yell.com or another of the local listing websites, so that anyone looking for a local business will see them there. They will also be able to access basic details such as opening times, telephone number etc. This should prove sufficient for such a business.

The large hypermarkets all have web sites that can be used for Online Marketing and have effective delivery services to make sure that groceries arrive quickly. However this sort of service may well be beyond the resources of a small local greengrocer, or the like and is probably unnecessary.

Another sort of business that may need a small web presence is bespoke clothing, such as wedding dresses. Their web site may well be a showcase of a variety of styles and prices to tempt the user, in the hope that they will come to the shop and take the next steps such as measurements, fittings and final purchase. It does not seem realistic to offer these aspects of their service online, although contact details are essential and customer feedback would also be useful.

There is a valid argument that for small local companies, an advert in the local free newspaper and word of mouth referrals may well bring in enough local trade to keep the company going. But what about the future, as more and more people look online for their chief purchases, it is really only a matter of time before they look for more and more of their daily requirements online in numbers.

What is really striking about even just a small showcase web site is that once it is up and running, it’s available day and night for potential customers to find whenever they do a web search. So in that context, it would seem like a good idea for the bulk of businesses to have a web site to show that they are being up to date and so should look more attractive to modern day customers.

Where companies do have web sites it will be vital that these are optimised so that when a user carries out a search in Google, for example, their Search Engine Placement will be on the first page of the organic listings, in the hope that this will result in an sale, or an email or a phone call for a meeting.

The company would need to use the services of a reputable SEO Company to undertake the work, and various checks can be made to make sure that the company is able to deliver the right results.