There’s no doubt that the internet has become very useful to people since it was introduced in 1994 or nearly two decades ago. With this technology, numerous tasks can now be easily done online and communicating from anywhere in the world is possible in real time.
In its first year alone, the internet had already gained 16 million users. In a span of 10 years, the number of people using it reached more than 800 million and in 2012, the number has peaked at more than 2.4 billion, according to Internet World Stats. Along with this development, the growth of internet service providers had also been noted.
Today, not only private individuals are using the technology because businesses of all sizes are also now making full use of it in their operations. Among those that are actively using the world wide web in their daily operations, many have reported success in various areas from faster communication and sharing of important documents to gaining more clients and achieving their sales goals.
While developed countries were the first to embrace the internet right from the start, the developing nations have also kept abreast through the years. Data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) revealed that in the developing world, countries such as Brazil, China, India, Mexico and Republic of Korea make up 60 percent of internet users. It added that websites are the main gateway to the internet for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business transactions.
Communication
One of the major objectives of the internet is to enable people to communicate easily and share information at no cost. With the wealth of information available on the web and the various platforms that people can use to communicate in real time, the objective has been successfully fulfilled.
But that does not stop there as the technology continues to improve through the years. More software applications and platforms are still being developed.
Marketing
Other than communication, marketing is undoubtedly the second most important task that businesses do on the internet. Due to its global reach, the technology has proven to be very useful in reaching the right target market and expanding it.
Online, there are just so many avenues that organizations can tap to capture their target audience and increase it moving onwards. These include the email service, social media, article and business directories as well as websites and blogs.
Studies have shown that businesses that utilized blogging achieved better marketing results such as more website visitors, inbound links and indexed web pages.
As businesses, particularly the small sized ones, continue to grow in number, it’s a good sign that many of them are taking action to get on the internet in the hope of achieving success.
Photo via thebestschools
About the guest author:
Joven is a business professional who recognizes the importance of finding the right ISP. Learn more about what you need to look for in a provider at http://www.internetserviceprovidersbyzipcode.com/.