Why Some SMEs Still Haven’t Gone Digital

With consumers able to book flights and hotels; order groceries; download music, books and movies; make an appointment at the hairdresser’s; send money; check their bank balance, and about a thousand other things online, you may be surprised to learn that there are still plenty of businesses that don’t have their own website.

According to a survey by RedShift Research in September 2015, 60% of small businesses in the UK don’t have their own website. Here are five reasons why as an SME you might not have a website yet, and how to overcome these potential roadblocks.

“I’m not sure a website would benefit my business.”

It would.

Perhaps you need a little more convincing than that. A survey from 2014 shows 74% of British people shop online. I know that survey is a couple of years old but I guarantee the numbers have increased rather than gone down in that time. There are also over two billion active social media accounts registered in the UK (statistics from January 2015), so whatever your business, your customers are sure to be on the web and looking for services just like yours. And more to the point, if you’re in the 60% without a website – what if your competitors are in the 40% that do have one? By not having a website you are missing out on potential customers, profits, and early retirement to a private island in the Bahamas (maybe).

“It’s too expensive to get online.”

A web presence doesn’t have to cost the earth – if you operate a small local business there is no need for your website to be very flashy. A basic website with a few pages showing everything the user needs to know about you in a well-laid-out, clear manner, will work just as well. As long as it reflects your brand and provides enough information to help a potential customer make a purchasing decision, there is nothing wrong with keeping it simple.

Besides that, your website will be your main expense for online activities. Social media, email marketing, directory listings and organic listings are all free.

“I’m not confident with using the internet.”

That’s where companies like SilverDisc come in. We can design your website and optimise it for conversions and usability, write the content for it, set up and run your social media, send email marketing on your behalf, carry out SEO tasks and run your PPC ads. I think that covers everything, but if I’ve missed something, don’t worry – we can probably do that, too.

“I don’t have time to run a website.”

See point three – that’s where we come in. If you don’t have much time to dedicate to your online activity and it’s not feasible to hire another member of staff to do the job, you may want to consider outsourcing. The only other option is to make time to do it yourself – however busy your schedule is, at least some of your time is sure to be dedicated to some form of marketing, so make sure some of it takes place online.

“I think my business is too small to warrant a website.”

No business is so small that it doesn’t warrant a website – there is no such thing as a company not “deserving” a website. If you run a business you want customers, and if you want customers you need to be seen by people, and if you want to be seen by people you need to be seen online as well as offline, and the best way to be seen online is to have your own website.

You may at this point say “I have a Facebook page, isn’t that enough?” Well no, not really. Facebook is great for connecting to customers and promoting your business, but there is only so much you can do with it. You can do so much more with your own website – you can make the look of your site completely reflect your brand, and provide more information about yourself and your business in any format you like. Your own website, unlike a Facebook page, is completely customisable.

And above all that, a website gives you more opportunities to optimise for search engines and makes you easier to find – which is the whole point of being online in the first place. Facebook should definitely be a part of your marketing strategy if that’s where your customers are, but it certainly isn’t the be-all and end-all – your own website should be where the magic happens, whether you’re a multi-national company or one person working out of your bedroom.

If you would like help with any aspect of online marketing, get in touch with SilverDisc.