KIRKLEES firms should help boost the local e-conomy by embracing Internet marketing strategies and getting online.

Steve Harvey-Frankin, an international speaker on Internet marketing and owner of Holmfirth-based WSI Yorkshire, said more needed to be done by local businesses to stop Yorkshire lagging behind other UK regions such as Greater London and the South East when it comes to e-commerce and digital marketing.

He is urging more small businesses to embrace the web to help buck the trends and exploit the wider UK and international markets.

Steve said: Our e-conomy in Yorkshire is good, but we still have a long way to go if we want to catch up with other UK regions which are excelling in this area.

All businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, can really benefit from the internet simply by having a decent website.

He said that smaller businesses often took longer to realise the potential of using the web because too often they view internet marketing as being expensive and unnecessary.

Many small businesses do not capitalise on the advantages.