There’s no denying that people will search the Internet for businesses whether they are in large cities or small, rural cities. If you’re in a small, rural town and you don’t believe that people are searching the Internet for businesses like yours, then let me tell you something…YOU’RE WRONG!

I don’t care what sized city your business is in, but every business should have a website that can easily be found on the Internet. You may think that just because you are in a small town that everyone already knows that your business exists, and that might be true of your only have a few hundred people in your town, but the people that travel through your town don’t know you exist. For many people, if they can’t find you on the Internet, you don’t exist!

The first tip in being found on the Internet is to have your own website. If you don’t have that, go to http://759domains.com and get a basic website for just a few dollars a month. If you need help with a website leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you quickly.

Once you have a website, to get ranked higher than your competition is to become more legitimate online than your competitors. To do this continue reading the tips below:

The second tip is to list your business with Google Local and to create a Google Plus page for your business.

Tip number three is to get your business and website listed on the Better Business Bureau website.

The fourth tip is to get yourself listed in the Yahoo Directory. You can submit for free, but there’s no telling how long it will take. If you’re in a hurry you can pay a fee to get listed immediately.

The last, but not least of the five tips is to make sure you list very clearly what your business does. Have a page for each of your products and services and detail exactly what each product and service does. Make sure to link to each page from the home page. Typically this is done in a menu and sub-menu. If you don’t explain what your prodcuts and services are then Google and other search engines won’t know what they are also.

Once you do these 5 things (4 if you already have a website) then you should be way ahead most of your competition. Don’t expect to be at page one over night as it will take time for Google to process your website. Good luck and if you have any SEO or website related questions just leave a comment.

Don’t forget to check out my post on things every business website should have.