Writing for Industrial Distribution, Bob DeStefano explained that doing this is an ideal way of improving marketing, something that may interest firms looking to expand their current telemarketing and sales profiling operations and use new techniques.

He urged businesses to make sure their homepage is well designed so as to give a good first impression to internet users, noting that it should "clearly communicate your capabilities and the solutions your company provides".

Mr DeStefano also stressed the importance of regular content updates, remarking that firms should have a "fresh and relevant" website.

"People want to do business with dynamic companies," he said, arguing that website content should be evaluated on a monthly bases, with information added or removed accordingly.

He went on to note that optimising a site to achieve high rankings in search engines is another way of attracting potential new clients, as doing so will improve targeted lead generation.

A recent study by the Nielsen Company found that online lead generation efforts are increasing, with display advertising in the UK rising by 21 per cent year-on-year during the first four months of 2009.

Written by Julian Poulter and Copyright "Selling People 2009"