Online presence for small business: website or social network?
Several years ago, during the surge in popularity of social networks, many researchers predicted that these services would soon completely replace the usual Internet based on personal and corporate websites. Each major social network creates its own branch of the Internet, almost isolated from the external environment. However, it already has so many people involved and such a volume of information that many users have almost no need to visit sites that are outside of social networks.
This problem worries domain zone administrators, domain registrars and hosters most of all, since possible changes can strike their business. Recently, VeriSign, together with Merrill Research, conducted a study on the trends in the development of online presence among small businesses. As part of the study, more than 1,000 small businesses from the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Turkey, India and China were surveyed. We interviewed companies that employ less than 50 employees and have an online presence (website, social networking page, blog, etc.).
Sites are still needed
According to its results, it turned out that 72% of companies with online presence consider corporate website their main resource on the Internet. Pages on social networks are far behind - only 13% of firms rely on them more than on websites. So the business of registrars and hosters in the near future is not in danger. Also, according to the survey, 82% of companies recommend investing in the creation of the site to other firms operating in the same field. In addition, VeriSign refers to a survey of millions of users of the Weebly website creation service - it showed that 56% of consumers trust less a company that does not have its own website on the Internet.
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Types of online presence
82% of companies have their own website, a page on the social network - 49%, presence in the electronic payment system - 19%, blog - 18%, presence in local reference resources - 17%, other options - 3%. In different countries, these figures differed slightly. The exceptions were India (only 67% of firms have websites in it) and China (in this country they actively use electronic payment systems (42%) and blogs (51%).
Domain zones
The most preferred domain zone, as expected, is the .COM zone (61%). In second place is all national domains (28%). The respondents considered the best backup option to be national domains (26%), .COM zone (25%), and .NET zone (26%).
The purpose of the site
For most firms (41%), the main purpose of creating your site is the ability to sell your products and services via the Internet. In China, where payment systems over the network are most common, this figure reached 78%.
Mobile versions are not popular
The surprise was that most of the companies are not interested in creating versions of their sites for mobile phones, although this is now very easy and inexpensive to do. Only 21% of small businesses have a mobile version of their site.
Domain Name - the center of the company's online business
Even despite the rapid development of alternative business opportunities on the Internet, the domain name remains the center of the company's presence on the Internet.
According to the data received, in March 2013, 78664 companies used redirects from their domain in the .COM zone to their Facebook page. In the .NET zone there were 6503 redirects. This is, respectively, 25% and 23% higher than it was last year, and the numbers continue to grow.
There are still great growth prospects in this area: a survey showed that only 51% of company representatives are aware of the opportunity to buy a domain name and use it to redirect or place information on it that is stored on another service (social network, blog or something else). ).
Do not forget that the domain name is not only the site. 92% of respondents believe that a corporate email address (mail@company.com) inspires more confidence than an address on a publicly accessible email resource (mail@yahoo.com). However, only two thirds of companies use this opportunity. At the same time, only 37% of companies from those who do not have corporate mail know that in order to create it, it is not necessary to launch and maintain a website on their domain.
Conclusion
Conclusion - domain names remain an essential element in creating an online presence for a company and developing its business on the Internet. Moreover, as the survey results showed, there are still great prospects for development in this area. Moreover, the development of the “human factor” in many respects hinders the lack of knowledge about the possibilities of the Internet.
This problem worries domain zone administrators, domain registrars and hosters most of all, since possible changes can strike their business. Recently, VeriSign, together with Merrill Research, conducted a study on the trends in the development of online presence among small businesses. As part of the study, more than 1,000 small businesses from the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Turkey, India and China were surveyed. We interviewed companies that employ less than 50 employees and have an online presence (website, social networking page, blog, etc.).
Sites are still needed
According to its results, it turned out that 72% of companies with online presence consider corporate website their main resource on the Internet. Pages on social networks are far behind - only 13% of firms rely on them more than on websites. So the business of registrars and hosters in the near future is not in danger. Also, according to the survey, 82% of companies recommend investing in the creation of the site to other firms operating in the same field. In addition, VeriSign refers to a survey of millions of users of the Weebly website creation service - it showed that 56% of consumers trust less a company that does not have its own website on the Internet.
')
Types of online presence
82% of companies have their own website, a page on the social network - 49%, presence in the electronic payment system - 19%, blog - 18%, presence in local reference resources - 17%, other options - 3%. In different countries, these figures differed slightly. The exceptions were India (only 67% of firms have websites in it) and China (in this country they actively use electronic payment systems (42%) and blogs (51%).
Domain zones
The most preferred domain zone, as expected, is the .COM zone (61%). In second place is all national domains (28%). The respondents considered the best backup option to be national domains (26%), .COM zone (25%), and .NET zone (26%).
The purpose of the site
For most firms (41%), the main purpose of creating your site is the ability to sell your products and services via the Internet. In China, where payment systems over the network are most common, this figure reached 78%.
Mobile versions are not popular
The surprise was that most of the companies are not interested in creating versions of their sites for mobile phones, although this is now very easy and inexpensive to do. Only 21% of small businesses have a mobile version of their site.
Domain Name - the center of the company's online business
Even despite the rapid development of alternative business opportunities on the Internet, the domain name remains the center of the company's presence on the Internet.
According to the data received, in March 2013, 78664 companies used redirects from their domain in the .COM zone to their Facebook page. In the .NET zone there were 6503 redirects. This is, respectively, 25% and 23% higher than it was last year, and the numbers continue to grow.
There are still great growth prospects in this area: a survey showed that only 51% of company representatives are aware of the opportunity to buy a domain name and use it to redirect or place information on it that is stored on another service (social network, blog or something else). ).
Do not forget that the domain name is not only the site. 92% of respondents believe that a corporate email address (mail@company.com) inspires more confidence than an address on a publicly accessible email resource (mail@yahoo.com). However, only two thirds of companies use this opportunity. At the same time, only 37% of companies from those who do not have corporate mail know that in order to create it, it is not necessary to launch and maintain a website on their domain.
Conclusion
Conclusion - domain names remain an essential element in creating an online presence for a company and developing its business on the Internet. Moreover, as the survey results showed, there are still great prospects for development in this area. Moreover, the development of the “human factor” in many respects hinders the lack of knowledge about the possibilities of the Internet.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/196070/
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