A research report released today by leading internet marketing consultancy Hallam Communications, reveals that 86% of small businesses in Greater Nottingham cannot easily be found online through search engines. 

This means that the vast majority of businesses in the region, do not have websites that are designed (or "optimised") for Google or the other online search engines.

Susan Hallam, who runs the Nottingham-based consultancy Hallam Communications admitted to being surprised by her findings: "The research report spells bad news for Nottingham businesses as it suggests a lack of understanding about the need to maintain a strong identity online. In this climate, small businesses cannot afford to have a low findability rating, which could see them miss out on potential customers through lack of visibility online.

Online visibility is crucial, especially when you consider that 27.3 million people use the internet everyday in the UK for an increasing range of activities from searching for information to buying products and services.

According to our research, only 14% of the 100 businesses in Greater Nottingham surveyed achieved a findability score of more than 70%."

"Marketing online is relatively inexpensive, quicker and more dynamic when compared to traditional marketing techniques and in a few simple steps all companies could improve their rankings in search engines."

Susan has been a prolific speaker and thought-leader on web marketing nationally; speaking at events including Internet World in London, presenting alongside Disney at a tourism event in Blackpool as well as her client work for companies ranging from Peugeot to the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

Now she and her team have decided to launch their own event targeted at SMEs and marketing professionals in the UK. The Internet Conference is taking place at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham on the 14th May.

"The explosive growth of the internet as a marketing channel is having a massive impact on businesses of all shapes and sizes" comments Susan. 

"I decided to run this event to help businesses understand and make sense of the myriad of tools and techniques available. We've even got a session entitled The Web Inspector - which is a chance to share your website with experts and gain genuine feedback, however brutal that may be.

If you're in charge of marketing for your organisation or run a small business, I urge you to attend. The question is, can you afford to miss it?"

As well as talks from national experts, the conference features presentations and talks from Nottingham-based Mark Shaw, founder of Jupiter Design and copywriting author, video consultant and founder of New Edge, Richard Flewett and Abacus Marketing Manager, Kelly Herrick.