Updated March 12, 2025
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63% Without a Website
That’s just one of the surprising small business statistics that came out of our Google Partners Connect event Wednesday. Read on to find out how many California businesses don’t have a web presence.
Other Small Business Marketing Statistics to Consider
Todd Rowe, Managing Director of Global Channel Sales, challenged how small businesses should define their competition. Rather competing with a similar store down the street or major e-retailer, the real challenge for small businesses to overcome is… lack of market awareness. Consider these statistics:
- 49% of California’s businesses do not have a website
- 97% of purchases start with online research
- 1 in 5 searches is for local services or products
- 3 out of 4 smartphone users have contacted a business they found on their phone
- Businesses that make use of the web expect to grow 40% faster than those that don’t over the next three years.
Top 5 Recommendations from Google
1. Get online with a smart website. I know this sounds really basic. However, are you evaluating your website based upon how users search? We find that many owners and marketers critique their website from the business’ side and not the users’ side. Most likely you can make significant improvements to your website so it better converts visitors into qualified leads.
2. Advertise online to drive traffic to your website. You may be skeptical on this piece of advice. I don’t blame you since Google makes a gazillion dollars by selling ad space. However, studies have proven that business who appear in both organic and paid search get 30% more clicks.
3. Go mobile – your customers have. This advice goes beyond a mobile-responsive website (which is the absolutely minimum. If your customers are finding you on a small screen, have you thought through their buying experience?
4. Video – low-cost, high reach, great differentiator. If 97% of purchasing decisions start with a search on the Internet, they are mostly likely looking for your products or services. Use of video is an easy and affordable way to establish a personalized connection quickly.
5. Analytics – know what campaigns customers respond to. In construction there’s a saying, measure twice, cut once. In digital marketing, you should be measuring everything. Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools have a wealth of information that small businesses can use to manage their online presence. Analytics will help you determine what’s working so you can do more of it to grow your business.
Other Surprising Stats
In writing this post, I was curious to see what non-Google sources were reporting in regard to small business statistics. Here’s what I found:
• Businesses with a website of 401-1000 pages get 6x more leads than those with 51-100 pages. Source: HubSpot Lead Generation Lessons from 4,000 Businesses.
• According to the SBA, there are 28.4 million small businesses operating in the U.S. 20% of those have employees; that’s why small businesses are commonly referred to the “backbone of America’s economy” and a huge contributor in ending the recession. If we extrapolated Google’s statistic on the number of businesses with an online presence — 37% — that means that only 10.5 million have a website and are able to leverage the web for 40% growth in the next three years.
Are you poised for growth? What will you do differently in 2015 to capture more market awareness online?
2015 Smartphone Statistics