Recently, on my drive home from the girls’ swim class, I passed a string of used car lots. Those sort of low-rent lots we all know. And every one of them had a www address right on their sign, along with the name and phone number. And then it hit me. Sometime over the last two years, a web site address has become a necessity.

A website address is cheap and easy. There are many sites for you to research a website name, and registering a site is cheap (about $25 year).

Your site doesn’t have to be extravagant or extensive, but it does have to exist. It can consist of one page with only your store name, address, phone number and hours, but it has to be.

Many sites are available to help you post a basic web site page, with little or no computer knowledge required. And it need not be an expensive endeavor; you can have a basic page up and running for as little as $50. Really. It is that easy. And that important.

Of course, you can have a very extravagant web site presence if you want one. Or anywhere in between. The important part is that you have one. Now. Today. What you do with it is up to you but it has become the equivalent to a phone number, you just have to have one. End of story.