Small businesses to develop online presence with Yell.Com’s ‘Shop Window On The Web’ - 29 April 2002
Small businesses are finding that being online increases their sales according to research from Yell.com, a leading UK online directory service. Almost half of small businesses surveyed believe that having an online presence has improved sales levels, with a fifth seeing sales increase by a significant or reasonable amount*.The Yell.com findings show, though, that there is still some scepticism over the benefits of the Internet. The results show that 59 per cent of UK small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) don’t have a web site and of those without a web presence, 76 per cent have no plans to create a web site*.
With the recent launch, however, of Yell.com’s Enhanced Listing product SMEs now don’t necessarily need their own web site to achieve online presence and reach new potential customers. An Enhanced Listing product enables SMEs to have web presence at a low cost without having to spend time and money in developing a web site.
The Enhanced Listing provides companies with a ‘shop window on the web’ without the upfront cost of creating their own web site. It provides companies with a highlighted box on the Yell.com site, featuring key information about a company’s products and services, and results in increased prominence on a search results page. At £99 a year, the equivalent of approximately £2 a week, an Enhanced Listing enables small firms to test the water and avoid a more substantial online investment until they’ve experienced the benefits of being online.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 74 per cent of people use the web simply to look for information about goods and services. With 1.4 million
unique users and over 33 million page impressions in March 2002**, Yell.com is a widely used search tool and an Enhanced Listing provides users with exact information on a specific company.
Yell.com’s Enhanced Listing product can be purchased online quickly and easily at www.yell.com/business or by calling free on 0800 169 2837.
The £99 package features:
- A highlighted box that ensures the company stands out from the free listings on Yell.com
- Contact details and a link to a map of the company’s location
- Increased prominence on the search results page
- § Six bullet points or two lines of text to describe the company, services or products
- § Up to six icons to provide potential customers with additional information, on anything from opening times to product delivery methods
*500 SMEs were interviewed by FDS International in February 2002
**Yell.com usage statistics, March 2002
