For those of us in the business of helping other businesses grow their revenue, it is mind boggling to see the number of small businesses that still do not have a website. According to Google, 97% of the population surfs the web for products and services, yet 59% of small businesses in Michigan still do not have a website! (Google Lends Small Biz a Hand). If you’re one of that 59%, that statistic alone should cause you to do whatever is necessary to get your business online!
Time is running out to get started building your web presence. If you don’t do so soon, you are simply going to become invisible, no matter how well known your business is. What is worse is that the longer you wait to get started the more costly it is going to be. Consider these facts:
- To be found in the search engines for almost any search term (other than your company name), you must optimize your site for the search engines. This is an ongoing process that gets more involved as more competitors optimize their site for the very search terms you want your site to be found for.
- Search engines reward websites that have fresh, relevant, and authoritative content with higher search rankings. This means sites that blog frequently, add white papers and e-books to their site, and gain a following via social media will likely rank higher than those that do not. Authoritative sites are difficult to move out of the top search rankings. The longer your competitors are doing these items when you are not, the harder it will be to get your site found in the search engines once you do decide to build it. You will have a mountain of content to create (again more costly and time intensive the longer you wait!) to compete with more established sites.
- Increasingly, search engines are giving weight to websites and content that gets “Liked” or “Followed” or “Tweeted” via social media channels. This means ranking for key search terms. It takes considerable time to build a following that shares your content.
- Search via mobile devices (tablets, smartphones, etc) is increasing at a blistering pace – especially for local businesses. In the very near future it will be a necessity to have both a desktop and mobile website, and optimize your mobile site for the search engines.
Think mobile websites and marketing aren’t important to your business? Consider Google’s study, The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Consumers. Some of the key takeaways from this study are:
- 82% of smartphone users notice mobile ads
- 71% of smartphone users conduct a search because of an ad they saw
- 74% of smartphone users make a purchase as a result of an ad they saw
- 88% who look for information on their smartphone take action within a day
Lastly, Google officially says that 40% of all mobile searches are now for a local business.
I’m getting tired just thinking about how big this mountain is becoming for those that have not yet entered the online world. Almost every month there is some innovation or change in online marketing approaches or search engine optimization that requires additional work to be effective online. So, if you’re a small business owner, PLEASE, start your website NOW! You can still get in the game…start small and keep working at it. Who knows how much more involved it will be in another year!