Lost phone books

Mike Diamond

Wednesday March 3, 2010

  I haven't touched a phone book in 5 years.

Okay maybe that's a bit of stretch, I did have to touch one last week to move it carefully into our recycling bin at home; got to do my part to recycle! That might catch a few of you surprised, but most of you will understand that phone books have gone the way of the dodo with the advent of the world's largest search engine, Google. It goes without saying that anything (even things you don't want to find) can be found on Google. So why bother with a phone book? Why not have the power of billions and billions of entries at my fingertips? It's really a no brainer. If I'm looking for a place to eat for the night, a place to get a great deal on clothes, books, music or that perfect birthday gift; I Google it. 

Before some of you start to think I'm on Google's payroll, I'll make sure I qualify my statements. A phone book, no matter how large, only gives me a certain range of information. Even a New York phone book, more of a tome than a book, only has so much information in it. Internet searching gives me the raw power of multiple phone books open at the same time. Instead of having to call a pizza place for their specials, they are simply advertised on the web, it's much easier for me to compare a chain store pizza with the family store down the street. Why? Because even the family pizza places down the street has a website now! In this digital age, they can't afford to lose any opportunities to garner business by not being on the web. 

What this really comes down to is societies need for information. People feel like they need to have any information they are searching for at the tip of their finger, or the click of their mouse. We are in an age where a web presence can make or break a business. People all across the globe are becoming successful by advertising their products and services on the web, and your site has the ability to speak volumes to your audience.

With the boom of hand held mobile devices, like the iPhone, Android G1, and a whole host of Blackberries, the web has moved heavily in a mobile direction. This isn't by accident, it further shows societies desire for information at a “wherever and whenever” speeds. I truly believe that in less that two years there won’t be a major cell phone producer that doesn't have 90% of their phones web capable as top feature. It will become even more mainstream that it is now, much like Google has. To take advantage of that, as a business owner, you have to be prepared to accept those visitors with clean and professional design that attracts people to your site, and keeps them coming back for more.