Over the last several years, many experts have advocated that small businesses in particular would benefit from taking the time to boost their online presence through creating websites that are easy to use, and by getting more involved on social media. And now, it seems that there’s a growing trend toward this kind of adoption among many such companies.
The latest data shows that as many as 60 percent of all small businesses across the country have no presence online at all, but that number is slowly but steadily shrinking, according to a report from the Nashville Tennessean. Nonetheless, if that number drops by even one-sixth, that still means half of these companies don’t have any sort of website or social media accounts to promote themselves to their local areas and beyond.
“We’ve seen so many cases of small companies setting up websites the right way and increasing their business as much as 25 percent without adding any personnel,” U.S. Sen. Bob Corker told attendees at a Nashville workshop last week, according to the newspaper. “Of course, over time as they increase their business, they will add employees, so it’s an economic driver, it’s an employment driver.”
So how can small businesses boost themselves?
When it comes to creating a web presence, some of the simplest things to do involve efforts that might seem a little bit old school, the report said. For instance, email marketing may sound a little passé in this day and age but the fact of the matter is that many experts consider it vital to companies’ bottom lines because it often has the most profound impact on sales of any kind of direct marketing. However, they should still also try to keep customers interested with engaging social media accounts as well, such as those on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest in particular.
Finally, small businesses should do as much as possible to make people aware of the website in the real world as well, the report said. That could include giving out coupons that can only be redeemed online, or simply printing the URL on all physical receipts they give to customers after a purchase.
Owners who want to set money aside to build their websites professionally might want to consider the benefits of finding more affordable small business insurance. By cutting costs for liability insurance, for instance, companies may be able to save thousands of dollars per year.
