If you thought the stats about small business web site neglect were alarming, get a load of this one: nearly half of small businesses in the U.S. don’t even have a site according to research firm IDC.
Now, this information comes from a GoDaddy press release, so as a seller of domains, they obviously have a vested interest in reporting such a statistic, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is indeed startling.
It is hard to imagine running a truly successful small business these days without a web site, though it seems many are doing it, or at least attempting.
Missing Out
These businesses, however, are clearly not as successful as they potentially could be with a web site. They’re just missing out on one of the most important marketing tools any business can use.
"The Internet is increasingly used by customers as an information source, so a firm that doesn’t have a Web presence will be at a disadvantage when prospects are conducting a search," says Ray Boggs, vice president of SMB research at IDC.
Boggs couldn’t be more right, especially as broadband Internet service becomes more and more in the norm.
Reasons for Not Owning A Site
My guess is that the biggest reasons that businesses go without sites are expenses and lack of knowledge.
It can be intimidating with all of your competition on the Internet, especially if they have really nice sites and you have no clue where to even start.
Stop Making Excuses
If you can’t afford to hire a designer, I would suggest educating yourself in at least some of the basics of design and HTML. This can be done for free through countless articles and forums online. There are plenty of content management systems, blog platforms, and design templates that can be used to get started.
I don’t believe template use is always in the best interest of a site, but if it is the difference between having a site and not even being online, it should be a reasonable starting point.
If you can afford it though, hire a designer. They can be expensive, but the market is being flooded with them right now, and will probably continue to be, so I believe it will be easier to find ones that will work for less.
If you’re not online, ask yourself why you’re keeping yourself from earning more business. Are you satisfied with your answer?
