World-wide revenues from e-commerce transactions are staggering – in 2005, worldwidebusiness-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce revenues surpassed USD $133 billion. It’s obvious that the Internet is here to stay. Barriers between online and offline business have begun to disappear and the pie-in-the-sky” dotcoms of the last millennium have made way for more moderate businesses that simply leverage the Internet to remain competitive and productive.
Today, more and more small businesses are recognizing the value of integrating e-business practices into their business activities.
Electronic commerce, B2C, or e-commerce refers to online sales. Electronic business or e-business, on the other hand, refers to more than just selling online.
E-business is about utilizing Internet technologies – such as simple email, online banking solutions, websites, and more sophisticated applications such as web-based customer relationship management solutions – to provide superior customer service, streamline business processes, increase sales and reduce costs.
Therefore, any business owner who uses the Internet to develop or enhance their business is using e-business. This means that you may already be using e-business in your own business.
Websites each have their own unique address, called an IP address, through which users can find them. For example, our online address is www.dontdreamit-doit.org. By typing this address into the web browser address bar, a user would be connected to our website.
But, since the Web indexes literally billions of websites, another method to facilitate finding relevant websites was necessary. Therefore, search engines that utilize “keyword searching” were created.
It is estimated that more than 98% of Internet users use search engines to find websites online. A search engine is a website whose primary purpose is to provide a search function for gathering and reporting information available on the Internet.
Search engines allow Internet users to quickly find websites related to a certain topic through the use of “keywords” and “keyword phrases,” that is, words and phrases that describe the topic of interest.
As an instantaneous information and communication medium with global reach, the Internet is a practical and vital business tool. And, your small business can benefit from the equal footing it offers you, regardless of your size or location.
