smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

A carefully maintained and updated internet image is a vital way for businesses to make their marks and stay ahead, according to a spokesperson from a leading web design agency.

Many new small businesses now begin life with some kind of online presence, while marketing drives have increasingly become based on email rather than more traditional door-to-door or postal delivery methods.

Now Andy Rose, director of the Duo Design agency, insists that first impressions online can now count for everything in developing a young business.

'A website is an invaluable tool to market a business - it's always on and can be viewed from anywhere in the world,' he says. 'First impressions used to be based on the size of your office, your car or your swanky suit; now it tends to be your home page.'

Mr Rose also adds that companies who already have websites of a reasonable level must make sure that they keep up with the rapid pace of technological changes by regularly improving and updating how their website works and looks. 'Keeping your site fresh and current is a fundamental way of repeatedly engaging visitors,' he says.

Search engine giant Google recently began offering a new tool which allows small business to offer their own site-specific search, starting at just £49.