Half of small business sites ‘not search engine optimised’
- Added:
- Aug 02, 2010
Almost half of UK small business websites have either very basic SEO or in the worst cases absolutely none, according to new research.
The research, from ThomsonLocal.com and Analytics SEO, set out 30 criteria as key signals of SEO quality and feed them into their SEO software that was able to automatically and simultaneously audit all 1,000 sites.
The areas that stood out most were that over 70% of companies with less than 50 employees had almost no SEO on their sites; whilst 74% had absolutely no website analytics software to track website visits.
Jill Pringle, Marketing Director, ThomsonLocal.com, who commissioned the research, said “Thomson Local has been helping customers find local suppliers for decades; now more than ever consumers are turning to search engines like Google and Bing, as well as local search websites like Thomson Local.com for help in finding the best local suppliers. Local businesses need to wake up to the fact that investing in better quality websites with original content can bring them new customers more quickly, and ensuring that the website they build is search engine friendly is essential in today’s market.”
Laurence O’Toole, Managing Director of Analytics SEO added “We are used to seeing poor websites, as it is our business to identify and fix poorly optimised websites, but we were really surprised at how many SMEs still have not invested in SEO. Companies need to adopt a new approach to their online presence. They have to ensure that their sites are built according to well established industry guidelines and fully optimised for search engines. Even if a company does not have a transactional website, the adverse effect on sales of a poor website could be substantial.”
Research Study: The State of UK Business Websites 2010
Key Findings:
· 47% of all business websites have none or very basic levels of SEO
· Over 70% of companies with less than 50 employees have none or very basic levels of SEO
· 74% have no basic website analytics software for tracking site visits
· 12% of all business websites are not indexed in any search engine
· 0.6% of business websites are under construction
· Only 3% of all business websites could be considered to have advanced levels of SEO
· 82% have no HTML sitemap
· 75% have no XML sitemap
· 69% have no Robots.txt file configured
· 35% do not have unique Page Titles
· 56% do not have unique Page Descriptions
For a free copy of the full research study of UK business websites visit: www.analyticsseo.com/blog.
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