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Back in 1999 when I started Logos Communications, I didn’t set up a website right away. I was bootstrapping the business and trying to conserve cash. I had a business name, a logo, a phone number, and a large network (which I’ve written about before in Be Connected.)

And that proved to be enough for a time. A couple of years later, I launched the first Logos website. I wasn’t able to secure the usual domain name of logoscommunications.com because it was taken, so I opted to insert a hyphen, and www.logos-communications.com was born.

Then something interesting happened.

I started getting phone calls for a company called Logos Communications. Now you may think, this is a good thing. But I quickly learned the caller wasn’t trying to reach Logos Communications in Michigan. Instead, they were trying to reach a company called Logos Communications in Ohio. The caller would say something like, “I’m calling about our Cisco server” or, more recently, “I’m calling to update our VM ware contract.”

After that first call for the “other” Logos Communications, I did some digging. I found out that Logos Communications Systems Inc. provides communications hardware and services and is based in Westlake, Ohio. (By the way, the firm was acquired in 2010 and is now part of a publicly-traded company based in Pittsburgh.)

So over my 17 years in business, I’ve probably taken 2-3 calls per month for Logos in Ohio (and probably a half dozen emails every year). And I politely tell the caller that they want to reach another company with a similar name. Usually, they apologize and the conversation ends there.

Like most of us who are searching for information (be it a company name, address, phone number, website, etc.), the errant callers used the internet to find the number for the firm in Ohio. They typed “Logos Communications” in their search engine and up came the website of the PR and marketing firm, Logos Communications, instead of their expected result.

What does all this mean? Having an online presence, setting it up, and maintaining it so that people can find you online is incredibly important today. Gone are the days of the big phone books where people would find your business, or even dialing “information” to find your phone number.

People search for literally everything online. Including your business. So having a website, a social media presence, and even sending out regular press releases are all strategies that will help customers find you.

Recently, we’ve been “auditing” the online footprint of clients and we can do that for you, too. Just drop us a line to find out more.

–Sue Voyles