“With Web 2.0 increasingly being covered in the media,” said Andy Peart, Chief Marketing Officer at Mediasurface, “it was interesting to see that 41% of SMEs surveyed had not heard of it, implying that the message may be getting through to larger businesses but not as efficiently to the smaller business community. ”
He was speaking about a survey – carried out by Mediasurface in May at Internet World in the UK – in which 179 attendees, from businesses with a turnover of less than £5m, were asked some key questions about how they are using their websites.
“Emphasising this point, of those SMEs that had heard of Web 2.0, only 37% felt that it would have a positive impact on their business. There is still a great opportunity to show SMEs the true value of effectively managed web content and to illustrate that Web 2.0 is all about using the power of the web for business advantage,†Peart added.
Whilst 61% of smaller businesses do not believe that their website reflects their company’s brand, 52% of individuals in these companies are unaware how often their sites are updated.
These were two of the key findings of the survey that also revealed: A staggering 1 in 10 small businesses still do not have a web presence; 37% of companies update their website weekly and 11% undertake this monthly; despite the wide-ranging publicity on Web 2.0, 41% of people were still unaware of Web 2.0; and of the companies that are aware of Web 2.0, only 37% believe that it will impact their business.
It is also interesting to note, said Peart, that only just over one third (37%) of companies updated their websites more than once a week. Dynamic, current content is a key factor in delivering a positive impression to website visitors and to keep them returning so updating content regularly is a key factor.
The fact that 11% of companies who took part in the survey still do not have a website is a worrying statistic, added Peart. Since a website is a company’s ‘virtual shop window’ and often the first port of call for many potential customers, visitors are highly influenced by the look and feel, ease of use and accessibility of information. In any competitive marketplace, a company without a website can be overlooked and may not even be taken seriously; however the results of the survey reveal that 1 in 10 smaller businesses are still not taking advantage of this critical business and marketing tool.
