“Our study shows that small business owners are generally aware that they need to be online to be successful but lack the expertise to make the most of their online presence,” Managing Partner Scott Langdon said.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (PRWEB)
April 16, 2019
According to HigherVisibility’s new survey of 1000 small business owners nationwide, 88% of small business owners believe that their business needs an online presence to be successful. That statistic shows how important the online marketplace has become important for business owners of all sizes. However, 41.8% of respondents said that they had no goal associated with their website’s use, or that the sole purpose of their site was for general brand awareness.
“Our study shows that small business owners are generally aware that they need to be online to be successful but lack the expertise to make the most of their online presence,” Managing Partner Scott Langdon said. “We see that as an opportunity to educate small business owners. We can show them the connection between specific goals and their ROI.”
How Important are these Digital Marketing Elements to Your Business’s Success?
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61% of respondents say than an online presence is “extremely important.” Another 27% call it “somewhat important” to their business’s success. - Social Media was also valued highly by small business owners. 57.5% answered “extremely important” with an additional 25.2% calling it “somewhat important.”
- 49.6% answered that Google My Business Map Listings were “extremely important” to their business. 27.4% found Map Listings to be “somewhat important.”
- Interestingly, only 36% of small business owners considered Paid Search an “extremely important” part of their business. 27.7% answered “somewhat important.”
Additional Findings:
- The study also found regional differences as well. Small business owners in the Northeast (69.83%) and on the West Coast (68.66%) were more likely to say that an online presence was “extremely important” to their business. Those numbers were significantly higher than in the South (58.39%) and Midwest (50.3%).
- The most common primary goal for small business owners was “General Brand Awareness/Provide Information” at 38.1%. Other common goals were “E-commerce/Product Sales” (23.3%) and to “Generate Phone Calls/Lead Submissions” (20%).
- 58.6% of small business owners either used an online website builder to create their website or designed and coded the website themselves.
- 44.3% of the small business owners surveyed currently allocate only $1-$499 of their marketing budget on digital marketing activities. An additional 6.7% spend nothing at all on digital marketing practices. That is considerably low for a marketing medium that they feel is vital to their overall success.
- If they were to hire an SEO company, 68.8% of small business owners would expect “significant SEO results” within the first three months of the campaign.
About HigherVisibility
HigherVisibility is a digital marketing agency based in Memphis, Tenn. that provides services in search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, website design, and social media marketing to small businesses and Fortune 1000s alike. HigherVisibility was named Search Engine Land’s SEO Agency of the Year in 2017 and works with clients across the United States.
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