Last year small businesses accounted for 99.3% of all private sector businesses - 99.9% were small or medium-sized (SMEs) and combined annual turnover of SMEs was £1.8 trillion, 47% of all private sector turnover.  

Small businesses are the bedrock of the modern UK economy, and despite this, 2.5 million of those businesses currently have no digital presence. No website, no Twitter handle… and perhaps, if lucky, they may just have a Facebook page. 

Technology now has an integral role in fostering business growth and enabling them to reach larger audiences, especially on an international scale. Britain’s 228,000 online retail businesses export more than the rest of Europe’s e-retailers put together.  

Many smaller businesses have unearthed lucrative new markets because of a chance inquiry from an international buyer, simply because of their web presence. What's more, companies which are now using the internet with a high-intensity grow twice as a fast as those with low web intensity. All of this underlines how valuable it is for small businesses to be online in the first place.   

So why do many still lack a digital presence? 

In many cases, small business owners perceive themselves as not having the expertise or marketing background to create an effective website. They’re also often short on time - if you’ve started or plan to start and run your own business, then it’s likely you spend a lot of your time running, or thinking about, your business. The combination of these factors puts many people off from taking the first step. 

However, thanks to the online tools now available, creating a website is now easier than ever before. Using a website builder that allows you to create a website from a desktop or a mobile (yes, from a mobile device!) will make this easier and more time effective.  

How do I choose my website builder? 

Traditional website builders have been focused on just designing a website, rather than worrying about developing a website that performs. Today, this goes beyond the website. Not only it is possible to create a site even on a mobile device, but it also provides the tools to get the website found with integrated marketing tools. With a next generation website builder, the process doesn’t end when the website is created. Builders now have integrated SEO tools to optimising Google search rankings, pushing your site’s content to Facebook and email marketing that ties the site design into the marketing emails.  

Being ahead of the game 

Micro-businesses have speed, passion and urgency. They spot opportunities, move quickly and explore new ideas in ways larger businesses can’t. If anyone is going to capitalise on the next big thing, it’s them. They are the trailblazers and innovators of modern business and often offer niche products simply not available anywhere else, so it’s vital we can discover them on the Internet. 

They are too important not be visible online especially over something as straightforward as lacking a website. The first step in unlocking their potential is letting the world know where to find them, with a strong presence online. 

 

By Stefano Maruzzi, VP EMEA at GoDaddy 

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