What "The State of Small Business Online Marketing Budgets" survey means to you

Just in case you’re worried your small business website is too far behind, take a look at what Mashable reports:

“According to [a Zoomerang and GrowBiz Media] survey, 54% of respondents indicated that their businesses currently have websites. Regarding website features, the vast majority (80%) of websites include general business information, while customer service (45%), lead generation (35%) and e-commerce (30%) features trail in at a distant second, third and fourth places. A mere 13% of businesses reported having a blog.

The survey indicates that there is large room for improvement among small business websites, including the addition of more value-added features, such as online shops, reservation systems and relevant content via corporate blogs. We see this as an opportunity for small businesses with brochure-like websites to progress into the 21st century with more useful and better designed websites.” [Emphasis and links mine]

The survey continues with small business’ use of social media:

“Social media is predicted to be the third most increased area for online marketing spending next year. Among the more than 750 businesses surveyed, 34% indicated that they currently engage in social media marketing. Of those using social media, Facebook (80%), LinkedIn (37%) and Twitter (27%) were the most commonly used platforms.”

We’ve been asking for years whether your business is invisible online – and offering help to make it visible. If you’re still putting your budget together for 2011, make some room in there to beef up your site. And your online marketing. And your social activities. If your competition participated in the survey, you’ve got a lot to gain at their expense.

Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

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