Baltimore, MD (Vocus) May 21, 2007 -- Small businesses with ambitious growth plans must leverage the web to find, get and keep customers. Businesses that have already invested the time and energy to create a website need to make sure that it is effective. Is yours? To find out, use this checklist of small business website essentials created by Joel Fisher, Vice President and Creative Director of national Internet marketing firm TruePresence.



"Visitors spend an average of only 10-15 seconds on your homepage," said Fisher, who has designed hundreds of sites in more than 10 years of experience in the industry. "It's important to maximize that time as much as possible by providing a clear path as to where they should go next."

Fisher provided an overview of the seven important pages every small business website should include. Check it out and make sure your site is ready to help your business grow:

1. About Us
Who are you? Include a company overview, history, and background information on management teams.

2. FAQs
Answer the questions most people ask. Ask your employees for input and put up the questions and the answers. This will save time and money by letting clients service themselves. If you don't think your customers have questions, you're wrong. If you don't know what they might ask, ask them to submit questions via a form. As you see repeats, turn them into FAQs.

3. News
A regular update of press releases and/or media hits shows that your company isn't stale. However, if you can't update it at least once a month, lose it.

4. Services
Don't write a book here. Tease your audience and give them a reason to contact you. Provide a breakdown of what your company does and how it is unique. Think of this as an elevator pitch and a corporate summary rolled up in one.

5. Product Info
If you sell a product, feature it and make it easy to locate or buy. Bury the technical details because those who are interested will find it, but those details will only confuse the average consumer. Make this section as striking and promotional as possible. If your company has multiple products, organize them logically from the client's perspective. For example, by broad category or description (ex: Digital Cameras) rather than model numbers (DLIK-321-G).

6. Contact Info
Make this a main section that is accessible from any page. Repeat your address, email address, and phone number in your footer. Lack of contact information is a common frustration point, especially for visitors who like to pick up a phone.

7. Contact Form
This is important. Your users may be surfing from a public computer, from a hotel lobby laptop, etc. In short, they may not have access to their default email account. The solution is simple: add a form. This also eliminates free-flow text dumps that you will never read. You can structure the inputs, capture only the data you need, and make it easy for users to contact you.

"Here's my best advice for a small business website," Fisher added, "Make sure your site has a purpose. If it is to simply provide information, do it well. If it is to sell products, make it easy and create a great experience for your customers. Believe me, it pays off in the long run."

If your small business website serves a clearly defined purpose and includes the 7 essential pages, it will assuredly help you find, get, and keep customers online.

For a good time, e-mail jfisher @ truepresence.com

Media requests for Joel Fisher, author of this list, should be directed to:

Greg Abel
Abel Communications for TruePresence
(410)-466-2210

About TruePresence
TruePresence is a national Internet marketing firm dedicated to helping businesses of all types and sizes find, get, and keep customers online. The company's unique franchise approach lets clients work strategically with a local consultant, while a national team of web design, development, and online marketing experts manages the fulfillment of each client solution. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, TruePresence currently has 16 franchise offices operating across the country and is actively expanding to new markets. For more information, visit www.truepresence.com.

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