Every conceivable type of business can profit from having a website. If you have a business, however large or small, a good website can only be a bonus to you. Many small local businesses question whether or not they need to be visible to the entire world, but selling globally is not the only reason to have a website.

Take for example a small business that caters just to a limited range of customers. We’ll take a hypothetical example. Stan’s Picket Fences manufactures and sells and installs picket fences within a 50 mile radius of his small factory. Stan didn’t want to expand his business beyond that range, but he was also tired of going out on the road every day to show his portfolio to potential customers, only about twenty-five percent of whom ended up buying from him.

One of his employees liked to make websites in his spare time and suggested he make a small website that featured a photograph album, some pictures of the manufacturing process and of the factory premises. There was nothing sophisticated about the site – it was like an online scrapbook album, but it worked brilliantly.

Once he was online, when people called Stan and asked him to come to their homes to show them his portfolio, he suggested they look at his website first. Those who saw his work and wanted fences of similar quality always called him back. The result for Stan was a large increase in the percentage of sales after his first visit. While he wasn’t making more sales, he was saving time and money.

Stan was so impressed with the website that he asked his employee if he had any ideas to make it even better. The employee suggested doing link exchanges with other local businesses.

Stan made a few phone calls and it didn’t take long before a nearby home decor accents business nearby happily agreed to do a link exchange. To Stan’s surprise, within a short time he was getting quite a few more leads. Over the course of a few months, he saw his profits increase by ten percent, thanks to an inexpensive website and a single link exchange.

Stan was thrilled with that, but it just got better. He found a housing developer who was doing a new property launch for a nearly completed project that had over a hundred new homes. Everyone who went to the developers website saw a link to ‘Stan’s Picket Fences.’ When they purchased their home, many of them wanted to add a fence and Stan was the first business they thought of.

Thanks to an internet savvy employee and a small website, Stan’s business has doubled in size. That’s the power of the internet, even for the smallest business!