Believe it or not, there are still businesses that feel as though they don't need a website. Many are relying on the classic yellow pages and business directories in phone books to lead customers to them. While the yellow pages are still used for finding companies - it is more often used as a just a reference to find contact information about a business or organization that the customer is already familiar with.

The web offers quite a bit more interaction with a customer or potential customer that a phone book directory simply cannot, at least not as effectively and economically as a website. Descriptions of services and overall nature and detail of your business can be far more rich with a website.

Just consider the most common aspects of nearly any website that you visit: there's usually a home page that gives a pretty clear picture of what the organization is involved with, and gives a good overview of their products and services or objectives. More times than not there's also an "About" page which gives you a closer look at the organization as well as it's history and other information that can help you better decide whether or not they're a good choice for whatever your needs are. There may also be examples of the company's past work, client testimonials, and if it's a retail-oriented business - there's usually a product catalog from which you can make orders on the spot.

These are all things that a listing in the Yellow Pages, or business directory of other sorts simply cannot provide for your company. What's more (or less) is that the information listed in the Yellow Pages is static, and cannot change on-the-fly as is the case with a website. If your company changes its phone number, or relocates, you'll just have to wait until the next edition of the business directory comes out in order for many of your customers to be updated.

In this present age of instant information access, it makes no sense at all to be limited to the Yellow Pages when you're looking to advertise or make your business-presence known. Business directories are good tools to have, and many people who may not be so technically savvy to use computers and the Internet may still rely exclusively upon them, but it just says the wrong thing for your organization (particularly a business organization) to have no web presence.

Let's take a quick look at some of the advantages that websites have over Yellow Pages listings:

-Computers (the Web) are usually more handy than phone books.
-The Web can be in the palm of people's hands (mobile Web).
-Websites offer far more information than a Yellow Pages listing.
-Websites offer a variety of methods for customer contact.
-Information can be updated instantly with a Website.
-Purchase can be made immediately & discreetly from a website.