An online presence is crucial to a small business, but getting it wrong can do more damage than good. Anthony Karibian of bOnline offers tips for creating the perfect website
In its annual survey of small businesses, the government revealed that the number employing nine people or fewer now stands at a massive 4.5m. Between them, they are involved in more than £600bn pounds of commerce.
Inevitably, the tightening jobs market, with its ever-shrinking number of permanent, full-time positions, is playing a role as increasing numbers of fledgling entrepreneurs set up their own businesses and create their own work.
It's a crowded and highly competitive field, with small companies fighting tooth and nail to attract the attention of would-be customers. At the risk of stating the obvious, a quality website is essential if you want your business to punch above its weight.
Unfortunately, on this point there's a mixture of good and bad news. On the positive front, bOnline's survey of 10,000 British micro-businesses has shown they're more digitally aware than previously believed, with 81% running a website. Hitherto, estimates tended to hover around the 50% mark.
Despite their enthusiasm to get online, most of these sites – a worrying 80% – simply aren't fit for purpose in today's digital age. The vast majority of micro-businesses are using sites that are based on out-of-date technology. They tend to be "static", limited to five pages and offer no content management. Hence they can't perform basic but essential marketing tasks, such as posting photos and publishing customer testimonials.
The end result is their site ranks very low on a Google search – and even when they do attract visitors, they rarely convert them to paying customers as they project a poor image online. These businesses are effectively operating off-line and are missing huge opportunities to grow.
Continue to read Why a good (cheap) website is vital for small businesses
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Replies
If you want to be found by google in the search engine rankings it is imperative your website can be read correctly by Google. As stated a lot of older websites just don't do this.
However even with a brand new website with all the bells and whistles it won't guarantee you being found by Google, that takes time, money and hard work on your behalf as I've found out.
Its an ongoing learning process.
I thought the article explained the virtue of having a website, but why a cheap one?
I know several juicers use free website tools, but what would be considered to be a reasonable price for a professional site.
We currently pay £132 per year for hosting, we've been quoted £250 p/yr for a new site and £27 p/yr by someone else.
What do people pay, does anyone pay extra for a better service, ie less 'down' time, more reliable. Who do you recommend?
Any thoughts?
Thanks