Neilson/Netratings recently surveyed 2000 consumers and found that a staggering 86 percent of respondents used the Internet to find local businesses to shop at, and 74 percent of them said they used search engines to find businesses. What does that mean? If your competitor has a website and shows up in local searches but you do not, then you are losing business to them.

Not only is it important that you have a website, but the quality of your website plays a significant role as well. 85 percent of respondents agreed that the quality of a business' website was an important factor in earning their trust, and 75 percent agreed that they were more likely to buy from “an unfamiliar business with a quality website,” than “a poor website from a known business.”

Every year the Internet becomes a more important part of doing business... being online isn't enough anymore, you need an attractive, professional website.