A recent survey of 780 small and medium-sized US businesses, conducted by the “Small and Medium-Sized Business Barometer,” found 96% of them had access to the Internet, most at high-speed connections. These findings show that not only are more and more small and medium-sized businesses going online, but they are also depending on the Internet for profits and marketing.
This information was broken down even further to reveal that 72% of survey respondents have already had a functional website for their business, with more than half (60%) using, or are interested in using, email marketing. A slightly smaller margin 5(4%) are interested in or are already using search engine optimization. The complete breakdown is as follows:
The Internet has proved to be a powerful tool for these small and medium-sized businesses, as 78% report an increase in business since creating their own website, and 76% say having Internet access allows them to generate leads for their business. The clear benefits of having a website are reported by 32% of survey respondents who sell products through their site-of which 82% receive revenue on a monthly basis.
Jeffery Stibel, CEO of Interland-the company who created the survey-says, “These results demonstrate that business leaders understand the importance of the Internet, websites and online marketing tools and are acting on that knowledge. Since first introducing the Interland Small and Medium-Sized Business Barometer in 2003, we have seen significant growth of businesses using online tools and offerings to attract service and satisfy customers.”
The Barometer clearly shows how small and medium-sized businesses are recognizing the importance of websites, as 53% of respondents with websites say they provide instant credibility to the company, and 29% report having a website allows them to move ahead with the development of products and services.
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