What are the key issues currently facing small firms that can have an impact on their online visibility?
Today, there are a number of factors that small firms need to take into consideration. The current economic crisis will without a doubt have an impact on the advertising budgets available, underlining the importance of selecting the most effective tool to raise a small firm's online visibility.

Making your company's name stand out in the mass of websites, forums and blogs that now exist in the Web 2.0 world is also a significant challenge. A small business needs to ensure that its website is not only optimised to include the key words that will attract the business audience and traffic it is looking for, but it also needs to have a real awareness of the multitude of online tools that can be exploited.

Why is an online presence important?
Firstly, nine out of 10 searches begin on the internet. A well designed, optimised website is central to building a small firm's corporate identity. Without the application of the right key words, an adapted digital design or presence in the right directories, a business will not be able to attract the business traffic it requires. A small firm's website represents its activity at the click of a button, making a first impression in a matter of seconds; unfortunately, the resulting impact can be far more permanent if the website is not a fair reflection of the company.

What type of internet activity makes a difference for small businesses?
If a company wants to have better online visibility and improved results, it's not enough to invest only in advertising. Companies need to develop their websites so that they are optimised for search engine referencing. This is exactly what Europages has done and our traffic has grown as a result. We don't just invest money in buying key words on Google; this only represents 10% of our traffic.

In your opinion, what type of advertising would be best for a small firm?
If a company just wants visibility on the internet, the best type of advertising is search engine marketing. However, if a company is looking for real return on investment or wants to do business with another company (B2B), then they should work closely with platforms. Online directories provide companies with accurate key words, better visibility and access to the right end user.

Today, the model that works best on search engines is CPC (cost per click) which means that every time someone clicks on a company's sponsored link, they pay a certain amount of money. On average, the cost is 20 cents. But for this price it's obvious that the quality isn't very high.

Besides CPC, there is cost per lead (CPL) which is more effective as you don't pay for a ‘click'; you pay once a form has been filled out by a customer. Here you are paying for a real contact that has been made (for example, if a customer actually purchased something from your website or contacted you for further information).

Do you foresee online advertising replacing traditional advertising?
Yes, but in the long term. Online advertising will slowly take over from traditional advertising, but I predict that this will be in about 20 years or so. Before then, there will be a convergence of different mediums. Mobile, TV and internet will merge into one and we will no longer talk about TV and internet separately, instead they will be referred to as one single medium.

Internet advertising is growing fast, but it is still less significant when compared to advertising through other mediums; it represents 10% of the overall ad market. Internet advertising is actually growing between 25% to 30% each year, whereas advertising via other mediums is only increasing by 3 to 6%. Even though TV, newspaper and magazine advertising are still currently more popular than online advertising, their growth rates are not increasing; they are just staying the same.

What should small firms know about online advertising?
Small businesses need to understand that online advertising is essential to their continued development otherwise they will lose visibility on the internet. However, before an SME engages in advertising, the company's website must be optimised for referencing.

When should smaller companies start thinking about online advertising?
Firstly, a small firm needs to carefully establish the reasons why it needs to advertise online: is it to obtain a real web presence or simply to establish an online sales outlet?

The next step is to look at the budget available. If a company with a good product that is already in contact with countries abroad has to make a choice, then they should invest in an online directory service, rather than buying words or sponsored links on Google, Yahoo! or MSN. However, the best case scenario would be to combine these techniques to maximise impact. Online advertising is naturally more effective when accompanied by attendance at trade shows and other industry events.

What do you think is the most effective way to do online marketing?
There are many different types and ways of doing online marketing, but it is important to choose a model that provides your company with the best results. So, if you are looking for good visibility, then perhaps a banner campaign would be a more suitable option.

However, if you are a small company and your main objective is getting good visibility and traffic from companies looking for a specific product, then it is best to use the right key words.