Study: Less Than 20% of SMB Web Sites Link to Social Media

A new study from BIA/Kelsey and vSplash indicates that less than 20 percent of small business websites link to Facebook or other social media.

SMB DigitalScape analyzed the web sites of over 1 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) from around the world — including more than 700,000 U.S. companies — and found that only 19.5 percent of SMB sites link to their Facebook page, and an even small percentage link to Twitter and other sites. According to the data collected, most sites lack basic digital marketing aspects — 74.7 are missing an email link on their homepage and 65.7 percent lack a form-fill option to request more information. Meanwhile, the vast majority of sites (93.3 percent) were not mobile-compatible.

As digital commerce becomes increasingly important, SMBs have more opportunities then ever to market their business and help it grow online. But the numbers suggest that it just isn’t happening.

BIA/Kelsey’s Charles Laughlin said in a release that consumer expectations for mobile functionality are growing: “If SMBs don’t catch up with consumers, national players could gain a critical advantage over local independent providers.”

Isa Jones is an intern at Street Fight.