Survey: Small Businesses Find New Opportunities via Search Traffic

A new poll conducted by Newtek Business Services in August 2015 has revealed that nearly half (45 percent) of U.S. small business owners believe web traffic from search engines is an important source of new opportunity for their business.

However, not all small business owners are focusing on optimization, according to the results. About 39 percent said their company website is optimized to maximize its search engine traffic. This is a drop from the 41 percent who submitted the same response in 2014.

“It certainly appears that although business owners are utilizing websites as an important tool for marketing, usage still has not reached the majority of business owners and the growth of Internet usage may be faltering,” said Barry Sloane, chairman, president and CEO of The Small Business Authority. “In addition, with all the constant changes in algorithms that search engine players use, constant monitoring and adjusting of one’s site in look and feel, as well as marketing adjustments, may be warranted.”

Small Business Marketing Challenges

A Spark Business survey published in August 2015 found that marketing as a whole is still a challenge for small businesses in the U.S. Only two-in-five small business owners said they had executed a marketing campaign over the past six months. However, 70 percent said they would do so regularly if they had the resources.

“Small business is a driving force of our national and local economies and the fabric of the communities we live, work and play in – yet many businesses struggle to market themselves effectively,” said Keri Gohman, head of small business banking at Capital One.

Data shows that small businesses are failing to take advantage of new opportunities, such as mobile marketing, as well.

A report published by Clutch in April 2015 found that just 56 percent of businesses have a mobile-friendly website. Ten percent said they were unlikely to build a mobile-responsive website in the future.

Screenshot taken from Newtek Business Services report.