[INFOGRAPHIC] Nearly 1 In 3 Small Businesses Don't Have Websites
By Andy Roe of SurePayroll
As many large retailers struggle with competition from e-commerce, in the small business sector even having a website is not yet a foregone conclusion, according to the May 2016 SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard®.
Nearly one in three (28 percent) of small business owners reported not having a company website for their business. For those that do have a website:
- 52 percent hired a firm (creative agency/web development company) to build the site for them.
- 20 percent hired a freelance designer/web developer.
- 17 percent built the site themselves with the help of a service such as Squarespace, Wix, Duda, Weebly, etc.
- 11 percent had a web background and built the website completely on their own.
Infographic courtesy of SurePayroll.
Only 26 percent reported having an e-commerce component to their site, where they are selling products and services directly to customers. A significant number (42 percent) said the web really isn't that important to their business, while roughly a quarter of small business owners feel they could use help with website design, functionality and content.
It's gotten to the point where it's easy to build yourself a website, but to build one that really functions well for your business and represents your brand is still a challenge. That's why you're seeing the majority still paying professionals to do it for them. Setting up an e-commerce site, with all of the technical items that have to be handled correctly can be a costly, complicated endeavor for a small business owner. The old fashioned approach to sales – building relationships, making calls, pounding the pavement – is still very much in play.
Andy Roe is the general manager of SurePayroll, a Paychex Company. SurePayroll provides payroll services to small businesses nationwide and surveys those businesses on a monthly basis for insights into the small business economy. Follow Andy on Twitter @AndrewSRoe and connect with him on LinkedIn.
The views, opinions and positions expressed within this guest post are those of the authors alone and do not represent those of CBS Small Business Pulse or the CBS Corporation. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are verified solely by the authors.
