Small businesses missing out on custom from lack of website

Small businesses are foregoing having an online presence altogether as new research reveals that three quarters in the UK lack a website.

A new survey has revealed that 75% of Britain’s small businesses don’t have a website

According to figures from the Office of National Statistics, the percentage of retail sales made online has steadily increased since 2006. This figure is likely to rise, with millennial consumers making 60% of their purchases online.

Internet sales currently account for 18% of total retail sales, rising from 2.8% over the thirteen-year period.

“For most one or two-person companies, a website is understandably not at the top of the list of priorities.

However, when you look at how people search for local businesses, the first port of call is usually a search engine like Google and if local businesses don’t appear, they’re lacking that shop window and missing out on valuable customers.The ability to quickly compare prices and check online reviews were two of the most frequently-cited reasons for choosing to shop on the web rather than in-store, and UENI also found that 86% of customers chose to consult a search engine before making a purchase.

The study from London-based tech company UENI surveyed more than 5,000 businesses from across the UK and US.

Of the 1,929 small businesses in the UK, 14% didn’t know what a domain name was.

Having a domain is the starting point to gaining online visibility, but one in seven of the small business owners when asked didn’t know what the term ‘domain name’ meant.

For British small businesses to compete, owners only need a basic level of online literacy and understanding of the internet.

Having said that, what many small businesses don’t realise is that technology is making it far easier to have an online presence.

These days, businesses can even achieve visibility in Google in a matter of minutes, given the right tools.

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