How Important Is A Small Business Web Presence?

by Sufyan 22nd of December, 2015

Assessing the standing of any business for sale will likely involve a number of steps. Of course, there's a need to understand the profitability of the entity, its customer base, as well as the business' financial position at large.

However, one area that's often overlooked is how the organisation is leveraging the digital space. While finding the perfect business doesn't have to be laborious, signing on the dotted line for a company that has built out its online profile will likely be the best way to go.

Why? Well, small businesses that aren't leveraging tech and looking to the internet will typically struggle to hit their potential in the long term.

No web presence = limited profit

Figures explored by Inc contributor Joseph Pisani showed that a little over half of small businesses have absolutely zero presence online thanks to the fact that they don't have a website. Typically, Mr Pisani explained that small-business owners assume that the process of getting digitally aware is too time consuming, costly, or a mixture of both.

However, in this day and age, that simply doesn't have to be the case. Even a basic website is better than none at all, and getting set up doesn't have to cost the company at large a huge amount of money.

The needs of the customer

Forbes contributor Erika Andersen explained that the vast majority of consumers now first research products, services and offerings in the online space before going ahead with the purchase. Consequently, businesses that aren't meeting this relatively basic customer need are limiting their potential for growth.

Entities that creatively build out their online presence – even in a relatively rudimentary fashion – can boost sales and ultimately bring more people into their physical locations. Simply put, companies that don't embrace the digital space are putting themselves in a difficult position, and may struggle to find success in the long term.