Staying one step ahead of the competition leaves little room for error, especially when you only have three-to-five seconds to convince customers yours is the right product or service to buy.

When it comes to their three-to-five seconds of face time on the Internet, countless businesses have fallen victim to the lure of pretty light-and-sound shows, fancy introductions and flashing photography as the anchors to originality on their Web sites.

In the classic evolution of on-line business, these companies soon come to realize their visually impressive Web site may win art competitions, but it's losing sales ground. In droves, visitors are skipping the intro., turning off the sound and opting not to install the latest version of Flash that runs the $10,000 slide show.

Instead, these customers are continuing their search for a company that understands the value of time. A source that gets its visitors in and out of the site quickly. And when these busy people find a site that understands them, they not only patronize it, they pass it on to everyone in their circle of influence.

Any Web-savvy businesses who recognize that are not only holding on, but even gaining ground, in the fast-paced Internet marketplace.

Their sophistication is not by luck, though. Most quickly would sing the praises of their trusted Internet-marketing partner giving them honest direction and proven strategies to increase on-line sales and leads.

These are firms putting search-engine optimization and pay-per-click strategies first, and Web design where it belongs as a secondary element. Their campaigns are driven by hard data, drilling down on the essence of what drives sales for their clients. They take this information and focus the Web presence around increasing quality traffic.

That's not to say they ignore design. They simply see it as a function of a solid Web site, not the basis for it.

Putting SEO and PPC first means writing purposeful content, building links and buying ads around the way customers search for you. It's dedicating that same $10,000 budget to an effective spotlight presence on the search engines, not a fancy Flash show on your home page. It's recognizing the importance of understanding what language the customers speak or what vernacular they use.

It goes beyond creativity to intelligent Web-site development.

So, true, the beauty of the Internet is its ability to allow business every chance to put any message in front of their audience. It's the business with a mind for its customer that makes the most of this tremendous opportunity.