Nearly half of U.S. small businesses still don’t have a Web site.

al Hance, a practice manager at a small doctor’s office in New York, says having a Web site would be unnecessary at the office he runs. “In medicine, especially in private practice… there really is no point,” he said, “except maybe to provide demographic or biographic information.”ance isn’t alone. Indeed, of the nearly 25 million U.S. small businesses, 46 percent do not have a Web site, according to the Kelsey Group, a research firm in Princeton, N.J.

But Web sites are not only powerful tools for e-commerce, they also can boost almost any business, as consumers look into products they might buy.

“When customers are doing research for purchases, they are going to the Web,” said Jed Alpert, vice president of marketing for WebCollage, a provider of online media technology based in New York City. “Sales that happen in the store are influenced by online research.”

http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/24/smbusiness/websites/index.htm?postversion=2007012506