LOOK OUT YAHOO & GOOGLE - GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SAY OFFRAMP.US COULD REVERSE TREND OF ONLINE SPENDING
Web Guru Urges Internet Users to Surf Global, Buy Local!"
Finding local businesses and services online is much more difficult than it should be---until now. Government Officials believe OffRamp.US will help all communities nationwide reverse the trend of local businesses losing sales to major national vendors on the Internet.
AUGUSTA, GA (PRWEB) April 23, 2003 -- E-commerce entrepreneur Dylan Riggs says finding local businesses and services online is much more difficult than it should be---until now. With existing Internet search engines, it is entirely too frustrating---even for the experienced user---to find a plumber, a restaurant, or retail shops in your own home town, or any other area," asserts Riggs, founder and CEO of Creative Media Group, Inc. For example, ‘Google lists only 127 Business and Economy listings for the city of Augusta, Georgia---a 450,000-population metropolitan area. Its obvious that far more than 127 Augusta businesses have Web sites. Within that category, only 12 Augusta Web sites are listed in the Shopping section." Riggs also points out that ‘Yahoo features only slightly more listings for Augusta businesses.
So, after reading a newspaper interview outlining the problem of finding local businesses on the Internet, Riggs and his technical team set about answering the challenge. Thus was born OffRamp.US" (www.offramp.us), a totally-free shopping-oriented search engine directory designed to allow all local businesses, as well as professionals and service providers, across the United States to easily register their Web sites for hassle-free, fast consumer access.
Riggs explains that his national search engine directory will compliment local community
information Web sites nationwide, while offering free listings and unlimited updates to every business and professional Web site in the entire U.S.A. OffRamp.US is user-friendly and as simple as one, two, three. Heres how OffRamp works:
• One---Go to www-dot-OffRamp-dot-US.
• Two---Select your state.
• Three---Choose your city or zip code, and search distance.
Now you have every listing within your search parameters, listed A-to-Z."
Search Engine Creator Touts Simplicity and Functionality
Riggs continues: Basically, OffRamp.US is a straightforward, easy-to-use way to find any local business, fast. And the ‘do-it-yourself registration function is super-simple." Government Officials believe OffRamp.US will help all communities nationwide reverse the trend of local businesses losing sales to major national vendors on the Internet. This locally-focused, business-driven directory will, once its fully populated, help local consumers more easily find local businesses," asserts Bob Young, Mayor of Augusta. And, at the same time, OffRamp.US will make it less difficult for folks shopping online in other parts of the country to locate what theyre looking for in any city in America."
Riggs chose the name OffRamp.US" because of its natural association with the most easily recognized reference to the Internet---The Information Superhighway." As Dylan Riggs points out, When youre driving on the interstate---the superhighway---you see the sign for your destination and you turn onto the off-ramp. Our search engine works in pretty much the same way."
By the way, we chose not to use ‘dot-com on purpose," says Riggs. We believe ‘OffRamp-dot-US will prove easier to remember and more indicative of the fact that we are a national search engine directory for all U.S. businesses."
Pre-launch Population" Phase Critical to Ultimate Success
This population" pre-launch phase, according to Riggs, is the key to the whole developmental process. Were inviting every business, every professional entity, every service company, every civic organization, every religious organization, and every government agency---as long as they have a Web site---to submit their listings to OffRamp-dot-US as soon as possible." Riggs predicts that, OffRamp.US will be the most complete, user-friendly, locally-focused, U.S. national search engine directory on the Internet.
Pew Research Project Indicates OffRamp.US on The Right Road"
Citing research results from the prestigious Pew Internet and American Life Project (www.pewinternet.org), Riggs refers to the following statistical excerpts:
• 63% of all Americans expect that a business will have a Web site that gives them information about a product they are considering buying.
• More than eight in ten American users go to search engines to find information on the web.
• If a store provides product information online, even if it doesnt sell products at its Web site, nearly half of all Americans (46%) said this would make them more likely to go to the physical store to buy the product."
• For local purposes, the Internet is used most often as an information utility to find out about what is going on nearby. The most popular local information surfing activity is shopping.
Company To Offer Multiple Free Services and Options
Riggs states that those registering their Web site for free on OffRamp.US may choose to simultaneously have their Web site listed with Google, the worlds largest general-use search engine, at no charge. In addition, OffRamp.US will periodically host free E-commerce and Internet marketing seminars at absolutely no charge, with no sales pitch to participants.
After the current Pre-Launch Business Population Mode, Augusta-based OShields and Dean Marketing Communications will help Riggs implement a full, multimedia consumer mode" launch, perhaps as early as mid-May.
Contact: Bert Dean
Company: O'Shields and Dean Public Relations
Phone: 706-262-2675
Email: bert@gabn.net
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