Mike Andrew Consulting

Less Than Half of Small Biz Have Web Sites

By mike, Mar 15 in blog with 0 comments

Less Than Half of Small Biz Have Sites

Less than half (45%) of small businesses have websites, according to data analyzed by data management firm Formstack. However, this figure, recorded by Discover Credit Cards in 2009, still represents roughly 36% growth from 33% in 2007.

Formstack defines a small business as having maximum annual sales of less than $5 million.

Small Biz Owners Don’t See Internet Need

The most common reason given by small business owners lacking a website is that their business currently does not need one (41%). This is more than double the percent who gave the next-most-popular answer, cost (19%). The other leading reason is lack of time (16%).

Thirteen percent of new small businesses plan on getting a website for their business.

Only 1/3 of Small Biz Sites Include E-commerce

Only about one-third (30%) of small businesses which have a website use it for e-commerce. The dominant use for websites by small businesses is general information (80%). This is almost double the percentage citing the next-most-popular use, customer service (45%), and is also far greater than the percentage capturing online leads (35%).

E-commerce Grows with Annual Sales

Unsurprisingly, small businesses are generally more likely to engage in e-commerce as their annual sales volume grows. However, small businesses generating $1 to $2.49 million annually are slightly more likely (69%) than small businesses generating $2.5 to $4.9 million (67%) to perform e-commerce.

However, both these figures dwarf the e-commerce percentages of small businesses generating annual sales of $500,000 to $999,000 (49%) and $100,000 to $499,000 (45%).

Other Findings

Thirteen percent of online small businesses plan to put more money toward social networking, while slightly larger percentages plan to increase spending on email marketing (15%) and their website (17%).
About 9% of online retailers (all sizes) engage in m-commerce.
37% of smartphone users have purchased an item via m-commerce.
US e-commerce retail sales totaled $41.5 billion in Q3 2010, up 4.2% from $36.5 billion in Q3 2009.

SMB Marketers Segment Emails by Preference, Behavior

Small-to-midsized business (SMB) marketers are primarily interested in segmenting emails by recipient preferences and behaviors, according to a recent study by GetResponse. The “2010 Email Marketing Trends Study” indicates that almost six in ten SMB marketers (59.4%) plan to segment their emails according to interest-based preferences of the recipients. The second most popular technique, segmenting emails based on recent recipient open or click-rate activity, was selected by 34.9% of recipients.

About the author

Mike Andrew has been working with the Internet and small business for over 12 years. Mike has been a keynote speaker at conventions and seminars and conducted social media training sessions all over the world. Mike has an extensive media background having worked in electronic media for over 30 years. Mike specialises in social media and Internet marketing strategy, SEO techniques and search engine marketing campaigns. His articles appear on numerous blogs around the web as well as national magazines.