By Gary Hennerberg
Small businesses are crying for help to understand how to
maximize online marketing. This isn’t just conjecture. It’s a fact based on a
survey that I conducted for a client about small business’s internet marketing
practices.
The small business online marketing study reveals that small businesses are often “do it
yourselfers,” but are often unhappy with the results. Remarkably, with three
small “tweaks” to a website, search results can change profoundly, moving many
dissatisfied business owners into the satisfied column (more on those tweaks in
a separate blog post).
Here are a few of the key findings from this survey of
small businesses:
·
80% of small businesses have a website
·
20% don’t have a website, but three-quarters of
them plan one in the future.
·
50% say they have good results with their
website, but another 30% report poor results
·
44% of business owners either build their
website as a ‘do it yourselfer’ using a template, or they lean on a friend to
build their website
·
20% outsourced it to a local development company
·
60% are either dissatisfied with, or are unsure
if they are getting, high search engine rankings and visitors to their
websites.
While 41% believe their websites bring exposure, 28%
aren’t sure what their website does for them, and realize that they need help
beyond what they can do for themselves.
More than 40% report they need help with their website for better local search
rankings. Nearly 37% say they need help
using Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Nearly 35% need help with email marketing promotion, and 33% need help building inbound links
to their website.
While templates and other online tools empower the “DIY”
website builder and social media user, there are behind-the-scenestechnical steps that can be completed by business owners.
What
are your challenges with your business being found online? Please share your
challenges, along with your successes in the comment section below.
Gary Hennerberg has helped to turnaround marketing performance of
businesses of all sizes for over 20 years. After a
foundation of working in direct response marketing, he has broadened his reach
and navigates between traditional direct mail marketing, email marketing, video
marketing, SEO, and other online marketing initiatives.
