The current recession has inspired many displaced workers to become entrepreneurs! Although in the long run, this is a good thing, it can be terribly difficult to get a new business off the ground - especially in marketing a new product or service.

Individuals and businesses are always looking for products and services that can add value to their enterprise by either helping them improve internal efficiencies (save money) or earn more income. An entrepreneur offering a new service or product that provides either of these benefits stands a reasonable chance for success.

Investment capital for new enterprises is difficult to secure. How would a potential entrepreneur get his business off the ground when working on a shoe string budget? The easiest method would be to develop the product or service and sell it to a pre-existing network of potential customers that the proprietor has established over years in the business. Most new start ups though, have no pre-existing network of contacts and must start with little or nothing. This is where the internet can really help.

Internet Sales and Marketing - Access to information has dramatically increased with the advent of free Wi-Fi and mobile internet access. Customers can now access the internet from anywhere to research purchase of any goods or services. A web page that provides quick information to customers making these purchases is a terrific tool for connecting with new and potential customers.

Consumers tend to invest less time in researching small purchases than large ones. The bigger the cost to the customer though, the more research he/she will undertake prior to buying. Here again, the internet is available 24x7 to provide valuable information exactly when the prospect is researching a purchase.

Establishing a web page is essential then to any new enterprise. But what are the considerations that go into constructing a business website? The top two elements are: Page Design Internet Search Engine Optimization or SEO

Design - Customers look at a business website to determine if the organization is capable of handling their needs, delivering the promised value and is trustworthy. These are three big hurdles. Still, there are a couple ways to get started that won't drain the capital accounts.

Web page designers are available for hire, but this carries real cost. New business can set up a web page using free template designs though that are available on the web for download. Web hosting companies can also be found that will host the site for $10.00 per month or so. These hosting companies usually provide easy-to-use content management systems to keep your text and images updated. Brochures and other collateral material must then be created to work with the downloaded web page design.

Most start ups can make use of these free web templates. Budget considerations may require this anyway. However, the business will need to remember that as it grows, there will come a time where the website, brochures and business cards etc, will need to be coordinated and produced using the same corporate image and brand ID.

Search Engine Optimization - SEO - SEO is the process of creating a web page that will be found by Google and the other search engines when users search for information about your product or service. A web page that only your existing customers and friends know about is only so useful. A web page that appears when customers need your product and are looking for information to support their buying decision is a powerful sales tool.

SEO and web page design do need to work together for a new venture to maximize return on the web marketing effort. Time spent researching SEO can pay off quickly for a new business owner. Optimizing a web page - or making that page more likely to appear as a result on a Google search - can be fairly simple, but may require setting up the page and URL in a certain fashion. Of course hiring an SEO and Web Marketing consultant can be an efficient way to gain this information, but it does require spending real money.

Most organizations understand the value of their internet and website marketing programs and invest time and money to compete for new business. A start up or small business entrepreneur that investigates website design and SEO has already started on the path towards increasing sales.