Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid: The Perils of a Poor Web Presence
Climb into your time machine for a moment and set it for 1965.
Ready? Push the big red button.
Okay, you’re in 1965.
Walk into the first small business you see and ask if they have a phone.
Go into the next small business and ask the same question. Once you’re convinced that every small business has a telephone, get back in your time machine and set it for today. The point I want to make is that not having a small business website today would be the equivalent of not having a telephone any time after telephones became routinely available.So why is it that many small businesses still don’t have a website?
According to a recent small business survey from Surepayroll, 28 percent of small business owners still do not have a company website. And 42 percent said that the Internet wasn’t very important to their business. I think this is a comment more on their willingness to develop a web presence than anything else.Uses for a small business website
Let’s go back to the comparison that started this article and ask a question: Why would a business want a phone back in 1965? I don’t think very many businesses would make sales directly over the phone, especially B2C small businesses. However, customers and clients relied heavily on the telephone communications to:- Get information about products,
- Comparison shop,
- Find businesses in directories,
- Check on orders and product availability,
- Establish the business’ credibility,
- Learn business hours, and more.