Can Your Small Business Afford Not to Have a Web Site?
Summary:
I’ve been accused
of being opinionated by more than one person in my life, but try as I might to
work on that part of my personality, it remains pretty much the same. So, in this article, I’m going to discuss my
“opinion” on one reason why, even if your target market is strictly local, your
small business can’t afford to have a website.
Keywords:
small businesswebsitee
Article Body:
I’ve been accused
of being opinionated by more than one person in my life, but try as I might to
work on that part of my personality, it remains pretty much the same. So, in this article, I’m going to discuss my
“opinion” on one reason why, even if your target market is strictly local, your
small business can’t afford to have a website.
A few statistics from Statistics Canada to start us on our way-. In 2003, there were about 12 million
households in Canada, and of those 8 million had regular access to the internet
from work, home, and/or school. Around
60% of the total households had a computer and internet access at home.
Ok, so now we know how many households had access to the internet, but what
were they using it for? Almost 90% used
the internet for browsing, but more importantly for our discussion- 34% used
the internet for purchasing goods and services, and by the way, that’s almost
double the 1999 figures for purchasing goods and services on the internet.
Industry Canada reports that in 2000, Canadian e-commerce sales were $7.2
billion, a whopping 73% increase over 1999 numbers. And no, it’s not a typo, it really is $7.2
BILLION! I’d say there’s a pattern
brewing—internet usage and sales are increasing rapidly.
And, according to Industry Canada, Canada captured only about 4% of global
e-commerce in 2000. Now, numbers may not
be my strong suit, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t that
mean there were 180 billion dollars spent globally on e-commerce?
Let’s look for a moment at the United States.
www.tamingthebeast.net reports statistics and forecasts collected during
December 2001—157 million online users were forecast to spend $47.8 billion in online
retail revenue in 2002. By 2006, the
forecast is 210 million users spending $130 billion in retail revenue.
The numbers alone will probably convince many people to invest in a small
business website, particularly if they’re in an industry where their target
market isn’t restricted to a purely local one.
But, you say, my business is just a little local shop. Why should I get a website for my small
business? What good will the internet do
me? I’ve heard that one before. In fact, the guy I’ve heard it from most is
David.
He’s the guy with the auto shop in my article “I Don’t Need a Business Plan—Do
I?” Long story short, his mother-in-law
finally convinced him to write a business plan and his business is making some
money, but in my opinion, it could do better with some marketing. I’d really like to convince him to spend some
marketing dollars (he’s a little cheap sometimes), but so far, no dice. Anyway, I digress.
Let’s use David’s business as an example.
So, his business is in Saskatoon, a city with a population of just over
200,000 over five years of age and almost 90,000 households in 2001, according
to Statistics Canada. Nearly every
household has at least one vehicle in Saskatoon, so that means there are around
90,000 potential vehicle problems for David’s shop.
Of course, not every vehicle is going to break down in a year, and David isn’t
going to get all of them to use his shop, but you get the idea. Mind you, some of them will break down
more than once. A certain 1988 Jeep YJ
comes to mind…
In Saskatoon, 72.5% of households had access to the internet in 2003, so around
65,000 households had internet access.
And that’s not including the rural population surrounding Saskatoon who
also have vehicles that need a mechanic from time to time. Now, let’s say David goes marketing-crazy and
spends $2500 for his website (which in my opinion is way too much money for a
static small business website).
But it does no good to have a website if it isn’t found. Statistically, when people enter a word or
phrase into a search engine, they’ll stop looking after the third page. That means, that for your website
to be positioned so people will actually click on it, it needs to be in the top
30 websites for your particular keywords or phrases.
So, let's assume that the $2500 David spent includes some good search engine
optimization. His website copywriter
makes sure to research and find relevant keywords and uses them well on his
site.
She adds his site to small business directories, and does more of her SEO
magic, and low and behold, three months in, David’s site comes up #2 in a
Google search for “auto repair Saskatoon”.
Now there are a potential 65,000 clients for David’s business because
they’ll find it in a search engine.
If he only reaches .1% of those 65,000 (not 1%, but point 1%), he could have 65
new clients, and you know your bill is going to be more than 100 bucks every
time you take your car to the shop, but assuming just $100 for an average bill,
he’ll gross $6500, making that $2500 web site money well spent. I’d be willing to bet he’d make that much on
maintenance alone, never mind repairs.
Now that I think about it, I’ve never approached David about a website from
this angle. I think I might show him
this article. He’s a logical sort of
guy, and it just might convince him to get one.
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