Keeping Your Mom and Pop Shop Open via Web Optimization

A webinar I participated in yesterday (Using Your News to Drive SEO, via PRWeb) brought to light some very salient points that directly relate to my last post about web site creation and SEO for non web-based small businesses. Here are a couple of the most reassuring reasons to get online (described by Mr. Lee Odden):1. Brick-and-mortar stores (especially “mom ‘n pop shops”) can benefit more than they realize by optimizing online.Example: There's a local cupcake shop that only sells cupcakes in one city. But the cupcakes are so good that people drive half an hour, an hour, or more just to buy cupcakes from that one store. These people may not stay in that city; they may move away, which people often do. But while they're away, there's a strong chance that they'll crave those cupcakes and want to order some online. If this store had a website, and it was optimized for specific search keywords, a person could easily find information about the store and have a place to request orders. So, even if the cupcake shop doesn't do deliveries yet, they'll at least be able to gage when/if they should expand. So, online optimization is mutually beneficial for the cupcake shop and for its customers.2. Being visible online helps get you on the radar for any journalists who might write about your business.Journalists are being asked to do more with less these days—that's why they're always searching online in lieu of other research methods. And even if they're not using search and social media tools now, a great majority of them will in the near future. So, it's very possible for your business to get on the 10 o'clock local news via optimized keywords on Twitter. And who doesn't want free publicity for their business? It pays to be online.