Well, there has certainly been some avid interest in the post! I've done more research, and clearly, the common theme is that a solid (not just a DIY) website is a necessary part of maintaining business.

I've looked at the company with the promotion at http://www.limedot.com, and their references are strong, and I like their past work. So based on everything, I'm going to give it a go.

By the way, they offer "search engine optimization" like you mentioned, and some other stuff included in the price of the site, so I'm confident that this will be worth it. See you guys online sometime soon!