We work in internet advertising and software, so it can seem like the whole world is online. However, I was surprised to learn recently that up to half of businesses still don’t have websites. That got me curious, so I compiled this list of internet marketingThis broad term includes everything from content marketing to display ads, PPC (pay per click) ads, social media marketing, directory listing work and online reputation management. statistics about local businesses and how they fare online.
- 94 percent of shoppers research products and services online before buying, according to a 2010 statistics cited by Google and found in the Complete Online Shopper Intelligence Study. That number can only have gone up since then.
- 72 percent of businesses have a social media presence, according to a 2012 report from the research firm BIA Kelsey
- 40 percent of Google searches are aimed at finding local information, according to the Google report
- 50 percent of shoppers searching on mobile phones went to the business whose information they found during the search within a day, as did 34 percent of people who searched from computers or tablets, according to the Google report
- 18 percent of all local searches led to a purchase within a day, compared to only 7 percent for non-local searches, according to the Google report
- 36 percent of shoppers say that a clear & smart website gives a local business more credibility and 32 percent are more likely to contact a local business if it has a website, according to BrightLocal’s local business websites survey from January of 2014
- The number one reason for online searches is to find the location of a known business, according to a comScore presentation from 2014
- Content marketingThis is the technique of getting more customers by way of providing high-quality information on your site and on social media. It has grown in popularity among both site owners and users in recent years. brings in 3 times as many leads as traditional marketing but costs 62 percent less, according to a Hubspot slideshow published in January of 2015
There are dozens of other reasons to establish your own online presence now, especially if your industry is lagging behind. Click to get your own copy of our free website startup guide.