Why Website Marketing is a Better Investment than a Listing in Yellow pages

The Yellow pages are often perceived as a classic method of marketing for businesses. The reference source for business listings seems easily accessible to customers and simple to use. This mindset has not ceased with the introduction of the Internet into business practices; various websites, such as Yellow.com and AnyWho.com, function as a digital version of the Yellow pages. However, it is naive to think that just listing your business there is enough to successfully market your business. It is equally important to focus on creating a strong online presence that successfully represents your business. By creating a customized, professional website for your business, you will have greater control over your business’ appearance and can create a much more informative and efficient experience for your customers.

If you are still having doubts about relocating your investments from yellow page marketing to your own website marketing, below are five more reasons to do so:

1.Content Control: While Yellow page websites aim to provide information to consumers, they will not necessarily devote the time and space that is necessary to give potential customers an accurate picture of your business’ unique services and advantages. In addition, your listing on a Yellow page website may not reflect any and all changes that are made to your business immediately, which makes the information outdated and inaccurate.

If you invest in a custom designed website for your business, you are fully in charge of the information about your business that is available to potential customers. Allowing a customer to collect as much information as they need to before selecting your business is a major contributor to a positive experience for consumers. 

2. Accessibility: By the time a potential customer has reached your business information via online Yellow pages, they will have gone through a series of other web pages. There’s a possibility that the consumer will get bored before they eventually reach your information and you would have lost that customer. Visibility and accessibility are crucial to achieving business success on the Internet. It’s also important to remember that not many people today are going online to find services through Yellow pages; they mostly use search engines like Google.com, Yahoo.com, or Bing.com.

By turning to a customized website and a professional web design firm you will be able to increase the likelihood of reaching a greater consumer base by making use of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a service which gives your website top results when a customer uses search engines. Besides increasing your online visibility, making use of SEO will keep you ahead of your competitors by being one of the first businesses that a customer sees when searching for your products or services. 

3. Cost-effective: Having a listing for your business in an online format of Yellow pages usually requires a large fee, oftentimes one that has to be renewed annually. It would be a much better use of your resources to invest in an effective and professional website. Besides the aforementioned benefits of SEO and the ability to manage your own content, you can make money from your website through banner advertising. Not to mention that an attractive and user-friendly website often draws in more and more customers, which increases profits and name-recognition for your business.

4. Individuality: When potential customers see your business’ name in the Yellow pages, it is often in the middle of a long list of companies that, on the surface, look identical to yours. A consumer scanning over this long list is likely to make an arbitrary choice, and you lose out on the opportunity to provide your service.

Investing in internet marketing for your website gives you the opportunity to share your business and its unique benefits and attributes with a larger group of consumers, and allows you to show them why your business is special.

While the Yellow pages and their online counterparts do an admirable job of organizing and simplifying business information for consumers, these venues can never really do your business justice, nor market your business as effectively as you could with the right tools.

5. Branding: While having your business info listed in the Yellow pages helps to get the word out about your business, it will not be as great an opportunity to display your company’s brand and individuality as a customized website.

A professional website for your business provides constant opportunities to communicate the essential details about the services offered and their quality. Not to mention that branding for a website can be used for a variety of other media, from brochures to advertisements to billboards. The opportunity to spread your business’ personality and flair should not be dismissed.

Most importantly, with a custom website design you own an exclusive Copyright to the unique design that represents your business and brand on the web. Plus the whole website, including your website domain name, is YOUR property; unlike the online Yellow pages that is currently just LEASING space to you.

What would happen to your business’s online marketing if one day Yellow pages was no longer able to stay and compete with search engines like Google.com, Yahoo.com, and Bing.com?

If you are looking to create an effective website and Internet marketing plan for your business, ProWeb365, a Minneapolis web design company is the perfect place to start. We specialize in custom web design, web development and Internet marketing services for businesses and organizations. Our professional team will help your business establish a strong web presence, and we ensure transparency in all of our services. Contact us today at [email protected] or (612)-590-8080 to get started.