A scheme is giving small businesses an online presence free of charge, following findings that one in ten small businesses are currently without a website.
Microsoft Office Live offers businesses a set of online tools designed with small businesses in mind.
These include web traffic monitoring facilities, a domain name and the ability to purchase keywords.
The software was tested by more than 30,000 small companies during the trial phase and alterations were made accordingly, reports startups.co.uk.
Tim Kimber, head of Office Live in the UK, said: "The internet offers small businesses a fantastic opportunity to reach out to new markets, raise their profile and compete on a level footing with larger competitors.
"However, many lack the in-house expertise or funding to match the technology budgets of these larger organisations."
One of the drawbacks that has been highlighted is that businesses cannot process payments themselves, but must bring in a third party. The technology also only works with Windows and Internet Explorer.
