New features and improved usability makes it easier than ever for SMB customers to manage and make changes to their Local Business Profiles.

Chicago, Illinois (Vocus) November 29, 2007 -- With the holiday shopping season fast approaching, Hostway Corporation, the global Web hosting leader, has upgraded its Local Business Profile offering for current and new customers.

Of the nearly 1 billion searches per month for local businesses every year, 45% are made with the intent to buy a product (per The Kelsey Group, March 2005.) Hostway's Local Business Profile helps any business get in front of potential customers where they are most likely to make a purchase decision — on local search engines such as Google Local, Yahoo! Yellow Pages, SuperPages.com.

Hostway’s Standard Local Business Profile product takes the pain out of getting listed by distributing each profile to 26 local search engines. Without any programming, design, or Search Engine Optimization knowledge, customers can create an immediate presence on the Web. And because each Local Business Profile is loaded with relevant keywords to each customer’s business, it helps the listing appear higher on search engine results pages.

The new and improved Local Business Profile 2.0 gives customers more control over their profiles with:

• A new design and user friendly interface
• The ability to easily manage and order multiple Local Business Profiles through Hostway's Web-based customer control center, SiteControl
• Increased responsiveness and speed for quicker revisions
• New directory-based categorization for increased targeting and relevance
• Self-managed submissions to the top local search engines

“You don't need a Web site with hundreds of pages to create a strong presence on the Internet,” said Peter Liao, senior manager of products for Hostway. "Local Business Profile lets any small business create and maintain an online profile that gives their customers all the information they need to do business with you. And our new interface and improved feature set make it easier than ever.”

In addition to the new features, Hostway's Local Business Profile includes features that customers have come to know and enjoy such as profile statistics as well as send-to-a-friend and email us functionality. For more information go to www.hostway.com/local-business-profile or call 866-491-9374.

About Hostway Corporation
Hostway Corporation provides domain name registration, Web hosting and ecommerce, colocation, managed dedicated hosting, SaaS hosting, Web design and online marketing services to more than 600,000 customers and over 2 million Web sites worldwide. It operates state-of-the art data centers that reduce the complexity and cost of Web-based technologies for small businesses and large enterprises. Founded in 1998, Hostway is one of the world’s largest Web hosting companies with a direct presence in 11 countries, 15 worldwide operation centers and more than 700 employees. Hostway franchises include: Affinity Internet, Bigstep, DiscountDomains, Hostway UK, Hostway Netherlands, Hostway Korea, Hostway Australia, Hostway Denmark, NetNation, PowerMedium, RegistryPro, Server Service, Service Over Internet, ValueWeb and WinSave.