According to a new survey from Clutch, a leading B2B ratings and reviews firm, nearly one-third of small business owners run their business without a website, and will probably never have one.
The 2017 Small Business Digital Marketing Survey included 355 business owners and managers from different geographical regions across United States. Forty percent of respondents’ companies have 10 or fewer employees; 27% have 11-50 employees; 25% have 51-250 employees; and 8% have 251-500 employees. 50% have an annual revenue under $1 million.
Of the 29% small businesses without a website, 31% choose to use various social media platforms to enrich their web presence. While a quarter of small businesses cite a lack of technical knowledge as the main reason of not launching a website.
However, according to experts, a website is not only beneficial but necessary as the world continues to become more and more digital. Business owners and managers should know and consider that with a working website various benefits can be gained. These include marketing opportunities: 1) increase from a “local” to a global audience, 2) digital sales conversions can save time and labor, 3) brand is elevated, 4) it is more cost effective than a physical store, and 5) marketing and business analytics can easily be tracked.
Alan Dale, CEO of Los Angeles Web Design says that, “In the old days, it was mainly entrepreneurs that were coming to the Internet,” and that “Now, more traditional businesses – brick and mortars – are saying ‘We should get this figured out. Everybody else is on the Internet. I guess we need to be too.’ A lot if it is an education process and crossing the digital divide.”
The Clutch survey also concludes that a certain geographical region in the United States can indicate whether a small business is likely to have a website. The result of the study shows that Midwestern Small Businesses are less likely to have a website with only 58% of small businesses owning one. 72% of small businesses on the South have websites, The Northeast (73%), and the West (77%).
Experts interviewed about the result of the survey stress that Midwestern small businesses have a common perception that websites are only a waste of time, which consequently influenced their lack of interest in building a website. Also, traditionally, Midwestern Small Businesses sales leads come from word-of-mouth referrals.
In addition, nearly 80% of small business websites already launch a mobile friendly version of their sites. As exclusively mobile customers increase, it is important to have sites that can adapt and be responsive to that unstoppable trend. Being a mobile friendly website is also one of Google’s major requirements for websites to top in the search engine ranking.
At No Limits Media, we will not just help you build a website but we will aid you in discovering and embracing what this digital world has to offer. Don’t be one of the last 29% businesses that continue to rely on more traditional, non-digital marketing opportunities. Visit https://www.nolimitsmedia.com/ now, we will package a solution just for you so you can start reaping all the aforementioned benefits, from enriching your brand to increasing leads.
Source: https://clutch.co/press-releases/websites-elusive-one-third-small-businesses
