The kind folks at DKC News just sent over an infographic covering some stats on the importance of online reputation for emerging small businesses, to compliment Yahoo! Small Business’ launch of it’s new Marketing Dashboard today.

Yahoo’s data points out that the number one source of small business marketing is the internet, and that 83% of consumers are affected by social proofing, which indicates the relevance of a merchant’s online reputation. Social proofing is the practice of using testimonials and a sort of word of mouth online. Eighty percent of internet shoppers likewise say that a bad online reputation can turn them away from a sale.

As for e-commerce data statistics, the Yahoo study points out that 17% of web searches are conducted to seek out a specific product – and 30% of marketers need help with SEO and product keywords. This is where Yahoo’s new Marketing Dashboard comes into play. Advanced features of the new platform include:

Local Visibility Pro: Small businesses can increase their online visibility by submitting their business information to over 100 search engines and directories
Reputation Management Pro: Users get more comprehensive data, plus the ability to track their competitors, receive email alerts, and share positive customer comments via social channels or email
Integrated campaign tracking: Small businesses can also attract new customers by taking advantage of marketing services from featured, best-in-class third party marketing vendors, including Constant Contact and OrangeSoda, and display and monitor results from campaigns with those vendors from within the Yahoo! Marketing Dashboard

An added perk to the new dashboard is that the entire service is free.