Between 2006 and 2008, the average U.S. adult has nearly doubled their daily use of the Internet, According to a recent report by The Media Audit. The average U.S. adult spent 2.1 hours per day online in 2006, compared to 3.8 hours in 2008, an 81% increase over three years. As a result, the Internet now represents 32.5% of the typical “media day” for all U.S. adults when compared to daily exposure to newspaper, radio, TV, and outdoor advertising.

Even those who are considered heavy newspaper readers spend about as much time online today as the typical U.S. adult. According to the report, heavy newspaper readers, those who spend more than an hour per day reading, currently spend 3.7 hours per day online. In 2006 the Internet represented only 18.4% of a heavy newspaper reader’s “media day”, but today it represents 28.4%.

How is your business dealing with this growth – has your business doubled?  Talk with us.

While 63 percent of small business owners turn first to the internet for information about local companies and 82 percent use search engines to do so, only 44 percent of small businesses have a website and half spend less than 10 percent of their marketing budgets online, according to a recent survey by Webvisible and Nielsen.

Essentially, they are crying: “HELP!”

The research shows an increasing trend toward using online media for local search, with 92% of searchers saying they are happy with the results they get when using search engines, though 39 percent report frequently not being able to locate a particular known business. This may mean that searchers who are looking for YOUR business may choose to contact a similar business with a stronger online presence.

Though less than half of small businesses do have a website, the ones that do are not happy overall with their online marketing. Among those small businesses that have a website:

51 percent believe both the quality and ability of their current site to acquire new customers is “fair” or “poor”

Only 7 percent of small business owners say their primary marketing goal is to get more visitors to their website

61 spend fewer than three hours a week marketing their website

Only 9 percent are satisfied with their current online marketing efforts

There’s real opportunity for you if you do use your web site properly – because your competitors aren’t!