The facts and figures about SMB websites (based on the 2018 Yellow Digital Report):

– Over 25% of small businesses don’t have a website
– 57% said having a website has improved the effectiveness of their business
– Only 47% with a website have had it optimised for mobile phones and other devices

There once was a time when every small business HAD to be in the Yellow Pages (we were one of them); if you weren’t in the big Yellow, you weren’t in business or so went the saying. How have times changed! Now, if you’re in the Yellow Pages you’re merely propping up broken tables somewhere and if you’re not online, you’re losing business to the guy across the road who is online.

To further emphasise just how much the web is taking over, here are some recent stats:

– 83% of Australia’s make purchases online
– 57% of consumers research the product in store, and then purchase online
– 89% of consumers look for products or services online as well as 86% pay for purchases, 85% look for suppliers, and 83% order goods or services online

To understand what this means for your business read on…

Whether it’s on a tablet, on a smartphone or on their computers, people are using the web to research, price compare, connect with businesses. And yet, so many small businesses don’t have a website, and even more don’t have it optimised for mobile devices. This means those that do have a website are getting the increased business from those who don’t.

If cost is a factor in your online strategy (or lack thereof!), then this may be of interest to you. We recommend that small business don’t custom build your website with custom technology – CMS, shopping cart, blog, e-newsletters etc – because by the time you’ve built your website (6 to 12 months), the technology is already out of date. And chances are you’ll need to pay significant amounts of money to maintain the website and its technology.

Being online IS the new Yellow Pages. Social media and e-marketing is making big inroads into how we all connect and do business. E-marketing is not the future, it’s actually here right now, it’s the present.

The combination of a good e-commerce website, strong social media and e-marketing strategy is increasing people’s sales.

If you’d like to know how easy – and cost effective an online presence can be call us on 1300 339 223.