Small businesses are increasingly predisposed to embrace digitization as a method to favor the viability of its activity and promote its growth. However, in many cases these efforts to digitize do not obtain the expected results. This is the conclusion of an investigation carried out by BeeDIGITAL, a digitalization technology solutions company for SMEs and the self-employed in Spain.
Despite the fact that 87% of medium and small Spanish companies claim to have a website, many of them are not well configured. The structure of a web page is not only important to offer a good user experience to Internet users, but it is also crucial to be visible in the eyes of Google. And the reality is that 40% of SMEs do not appear among the first ten results shown by the search engine when a user searches for information about the product or service offered.
“Despite the fact that many companies are making efforts to digitize, in many cases they do not obtain a real return on this investment“, Explain Xavier Castro, CEO of BeeDIGITAL. “It’s not just about having a website or using social media, but about doing it in a way that’s beneficial for the business, whether it’s to gain visibility, increase sales or have a better relationship with customers.”
Among the shortcomings presented by SME websites are the not having an online sitemap, offer little content and the lack of tags recognized by Google in the images. The latter, for example, prevents the business from being in the results by images, a form of search frequently used by consumers.
SMEs also fail appear in the results displayed by Google Maps: Only 5% are in the top three. This is a special problem for those local businesses, where their main source of income comes from consumption in the area.
“90% of purchases start today on the internet. This does not mean that they materialize later in that way, but it does mean that, as consumers, we tend to look for information on the web before contacting or going to a business. In other words, a restaurant or copy shop that is visible when a user searches for “restaurants” or “copy shops” in its location has a competitive advantage over those that are not”Castro continues.
Similar results yields Business social network analysis. 70% state that they use social networks as a communication tool with their customers. However, 86% have not posted anything on Facebook in the last two months, and 46% have not posted anything for six months. The lack of activity on networks makes it difficult for the brand to reach its consumers, and makes it less relevant compared to other competitors.
“The shortcomings in the digital presence of SMEs are not always linked to a lack of knowledge, but also to a lack of time. The day-to-day business does not always allow certain working hours to be dedicated to maintaining activity on social networks, or there are not enough resources to hire a worker who can spend their time on itCastro adds. “In this sense, the solution for many companies lies in relying on specialized partners that help them tackle digitization in a simple, and also professionalized way”, concludes.
