In a little more than five years, smartphones and tablets have evolved from objects of wonder to utilitarian, if indispensable, devices. Nearly 150 million Americans now own smartphones, and more than 30 percent of us own tablets.

The same thing has happened with apps. According to Google, the average smartphone user has 26 of them installed on his or her smartphone.

Picture this scenario: Your basement drain backs up and the room begins to flood. You grab your copy of the Yellow Pages, flip through to the “Plumbers” section and scan the listings — all of which offer company names, contact information and maybe some overheated ad copy. Feels a little inefficient, doesn’t it? And yet that was the standard until the Internet changed the equation.

Now you can find details on plumbers (including consumer reviews) with a few clicks of a mouse or a few taps on your smartphone. In short, the way people search has changed, and businesses aren’t immune from the new reality.

You might have heard the term “link-building.” It’s one of those phrases that gets tossed around on the Internet, particularly when the talk turns to search engine optimization (SEO).

It’s a term worth knowing for any business looking for greater online visibility.

For advertisers, radio is relatively inexpensive and efficient.

Television, the Internet, movie theaters, billboards, newspapers and magazines, sporting events: The variety of advertising mediums available to businesses today seems to multiply constantly. However, one of the oldest venues for advertising is still one of the most cost-efficient and far reaching available: Radio.