Member Article

NE needs to become more visible online

North East businesses are losing out due to a lack of online presence, according to new research. An investigation conducted by Business Development Agency The North East Regional Portal, found that the presence of North East retailers is almost non-existent when using search engines like Google and Yahoo to find the most popular items bought online. December 4 2006 was the busiest online shopping day before Christmas, with an estimated £183 million pounds spent online. Yet the recent research shows that North East retailers missed out on their share of these sales because customers can’t find them online.

Pascal Fintoni, Regional Portal SEO Consultant, said: “Currently the internet is dominated by national brands and high street stores as well as price comparison websites. The presence of North East-based independent retailers and businesses is almost non-existent and we must change this. “Businesses have spent thousands of pounds creating their websites so it is vital that they are easily found online – what’s the point in having a website if nobody can find it? “The way forward is for businesses to invest in search engine optimisation, online PR and ongoing internet marketing as part of an overall sales and marketing strategy.”

Over the past 12 months the Regional Portal has helped over 100 businesses understand and adopt search engine optimisation through training days and consultation work. Pascal said: “This is just the tip of the iceberg - in 2007 we will launch a campaign to make North East firms more visible on the internet. We want to see the North East of England represented online and ensure that retailers and businesses are easily found by online shoppers on a global scale.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .