Small businesses ignore search engine importance

Almost half (49%) of all small businesses do not submit their websites to search engines, research carried out by Fasthosts has found.

Additionally, a massive 66 per cent of internet users and potential customers indicated that they only looked at the first two pages of search results. These two findings mean that most small businesses may never be discovered online, resulting in loss of revenue every day they are not visible on the web.

Fasthosts’ SMEs On The Web survey asked more than 2,000 SMEs about their search engine practices, attitudes towards sponsored links and favoured search engines.

In 2005, UK consumers spent £19.2 billion online on goods and services and that figure is forecast to grow by 36 per cent in 2006 (IMRG). Consumers use search engines as a first point of call to search for products and services, and 89 per cent of respondents stated that Google was their search engine of choice. However, companies need to ensure a high listing within the natural results on the left hand side, as 30 per cent of respondents indicated that they never click on sponsored links.

“Our study once again shows the importance of search engines. In 2006, no business can afford to be invisible online, yet too many SMEs are,” commented Andrew Michael, CEO, Fasthosts. “I was amazed to see that SMEs are not considering how much they personally use search engines when it comes to the importance of ranking for their own company. If you are not listed on Google, your web site might as well not be online,” he added.

2094 businesses participated in the online survey carried out during January and February 2006 by Fasthosts. 49 per cent of respondents admitted that they do not submit their website to search engines, which accounted for 1,026 votes. To take part in the survey, and to see the full results, please visit http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/poll