Small businesses have a difficult couple of years ahead of them for one simple reason – everything in our society, from shopping to getting the news, is digitizing and going online. Anyone who doesn’t follow suite in the upcoming years are going to find themselves left behind, and most likely unable to catch up with the changing times. Small businesses find themselves in a particularly tough situation, since many don’t have the resources or time to make the transition to the digital world on their own.

For small businesses making the transition to the web, there’s a foundation to be laid down. First and foremost, any business that wants to survive will need its own website. There are many companies out there that offer a free page, or a build-your-own website service, but they typically wind up owning the domain and the site itself, leaving the business with nothing once the business relationship is at an end. Every business, from small to large, should have their own website, completed by a custom web design.

A custom web design ensures a few things. First, it ensures that your small business or company has a web site of its own, on its own domain. This is incredibly important when it comes to optimizing your site for the search engines, but we’ll touch on that a little later. Secondly, a business with its own web site has a professional and credible feeling when viewed by current and potential customers. And thirdly, having your own website means you, as a business, have complete control on what it looks and feels like.

Let’s focus on credibility and professionalism for a second. The purpose of any business is to attract and keep customers. When it comes to the online world, you need to build a reputation with your potential customers. This can be done in two main ways, one being through the search engines, meaning you’ve built a relationship with the various search engines like Google and Yahoo and are viewed as legit in their eyes. The second way is through the site itself. If a site looks professional, with a well laid out navigation structure and a clearly custom web design.

Yes, having your own web site is pretty much a requirement if you want to see your company survive the upcoming years. Another necessity for a small business is going to be local search. Social sites are all the rage these days, with most of us quite familiar with Facebook. There are other social sites out there, such as Yelp and CitySearch, and it’s these local search sites that you’ll want to be listed, and active, in.

Local search is a very powerful tool for small businesses. It allows potential customers in your area to find you and learn what it is you do and have to offer, as well as see what other customers have to say about you. Local search sites are relatively new, so it’s a safe bet that they’re only going to be getting more and more popular as time goes on and more people and businesses flock to the internet.

If you’re looking for a solid one, two punch for your small businesses, SEO and local search are going to be it. The custom web design allows you to have control over your site and all its pages, including its keyword optimization. SEO, or search engine optimization, is highly important for any site. It is what builds the relationship of trust with the search engines and lets them know that you’re company site is an authority in its field. Combine that with the power that local search has to offer, and you’re looking at a pretty potent recipe for online success for your small business.