Can a Business Really Exist Without a Website?
Let me ask you a question that you probably don’t think about very often: what would you think of a company or business that didn’t have a website?
In this article, I’m going to list 25 eye-opening facts about websites that I hope will blow your mind.
For example, you probably know that your website’s load speed is essential. But did you know that slow-loading websites cost retailers $2.6 billion in lost sales each year? Crazy right!? There are 25 more of these wild and fun website facts below.
But before jumping into it, let me weigh in on this concept: a company or business without a website.
Being a marketing consultant and the owner of a company that designs and develops awesome websites, it’s hard for me to fathom that a business can exist, grow, or scale without a website, considering that more than one-third of everything we do, we now do online.
However, not everyone is as obsessed with marketing as I am.
According to Small Business Trends, 23 percent of small businesses said they do not have a website, while one-third of that 25 percent said they don’t need one, most of them being brick and mortar stores that said their customers don’t go online.
There are about 31 million small businesses in America. That means millions of companies don’t have a website, and a ton of them don’t think they need one.
So, before reading the 25 amazing website facts I’ve prepared for you below, I want to take a split-second of your time to discuss the subject of a business without a website.
Can a business exist without a website? Yes, it can!
Can a business grow and scale without a website? All bias aside, some companies and business models don’t depend on a website for their expansion. Of course, many businesses rely on a website for leads, sales, and partnerships.
But in today’s day and age where millions of people have instant access to the internet and resort to it to find local businesses, companies, services, and products, I think a more appropriate question would be:
Can a website be beneficial to a business, and can a website help a business grow somehow?
And the answer to that is: yes!
Personally, if I run into a company or business that doesn’t have a website, the first thing that comes to mind is that they’re tiny or not fully established yet.
My second thought is that they’re probably on a tight budget; luckily, I can help them! Since my company specializes in building websites for startups and small businesses, I can generally build them a website they can afford.
Unfortunately, that’s not how most potential clients see it: according to Google, people don’t trust a company or business that doesn’t have a website.
3 Main Reasons Businesses Don’t Have a website
1. They don’t have the money for it
2. They don’t think they need one
3. They don’t believe their clients are online.
That “customers don’t go online” is false.
According to statistics, Americans spend an average of 6.31 hours on the Internet daily; 145 minutes of the 6 hours are spent on social media.
You probably think that’s insane and impossible, but it’s the national average.
I had the same reaction. There’s no way I spent so much time online.
So I took a screenshot of my iPhone’s screen time report to be completely transparent. According to my cell phone, I spend 1:45 a day on Safari and 1:01 on Instagram doing God knows what.
That’s almost 3 hours, just on my phone. I also happen to sit at a desk with a computer, the same computer I’m using to type this article, and I’m sure I spend another 2-3 hours online at my desktop through Chrome.
You and many others likely spend an average of 6 hours online. And now you know why I relate my cell phone to the most intensely addictive drug on the planet (use your imagination).
That is not to say that the average American wastes 6 hours a day doing nothing.
Quite the opposite! Having instant access to the internet and doing so many things online saves time. The internet has made it a lot easier to do many things, such as doing business!
More to the point, the chances are that no matter what your business is, your customers are online a LOT.
Who Doesn't Need A Website?
As I said, there may be some business models that don’t depend on a website. I like to say that companies have different levels of “website dependency.”
1. There are some businesses, like e-commerce stores, which rely on the Internet for all their business.
2. Some stores depend on both in-store traffic and online sales.
3. Some mainly depend on in-store traffic but could benefit from a website.
But let’s take the small business that “doesn’t need a website.” Could a website help them in any way?
The answer is yes. I’ve built websites for car washes, mechanics, locally owned ice cream shops, and many more brick-and-mortar type business models that didn’t directly depend on their website for their business. But in all cases, having a website helped those businesses get found, and websites help potential customers decide to do business with you.
It’s not uncommon for me to search Google for a restaurant and then check out their website, pictures of their plates, and even run through their menu before deciding to go to that restaurant.
Having a website that talks about your services and products also helps you show up on Google when someone searches for something you sell or do. If you didn’t have a website, chances are it would be harder to find you. Even worse, potential customers will end up finding your competition who does have a website.
Now, it’s true that when you are first starting a business or you’re trying to keep one going, money gets a bit tight. But generally, most startups and small businesses I’ve had the pleasure of building a website for do have a marketing budget, and it’s just not huge.
Here’s the thing. A nice-looking website doesn’t need to be expensive, nor does it take forever to build. My company routinely makes great websites for startups and small businesses, and we always try to fit within their budget whenever possible.
So, my last question before listing the 25 eye-opening website facts is, if you were to find a company that could build a great-looking website that was fast and mobile-friendly, modern, and well designed, at a price you could afford, would you do it?
If you don’t already have a website, I guess the answer is yes.
25 Website Facts You Probably Didn’t Know
1. How long does it take web users to form an opinion about your website?
It takes 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they like your site or not and whether they’ll stay or leave.
2. Is it important to make sure your website is designed well for mobile devices?
Yes. 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website on mobile
3. How important is desktop vs. mobile for a website?
85% of adults think that a company’s website should be as good or better when viewed on a mobile device than its desktop website.
4. What percentage of retail websites are viewed on mobile?
Smartphones hold a 63% share of all retail website visits.
5. Is design important?
38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive
6. How important is it that your website functions properly?
88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience.
7. How important is user experience?
77% of agencies believe that a lousy website User Experience is a weakness for their clients.
8. Does it really matter if images load fast?
39% of people will stop engaging with a website if images won’t load or take too long to load.
9. What is an acceptable webpage load speed?
47% of Users expect a maximum of 2 seconds loading time for an average website.
10. Are your customers judging you for poor web design?
75% of consumers admit to making judgments on a company’s credibility based on the company’s website design.
11. How long does it take to make a first impression?
It takes 2.6 seconds for a user’s eyes to land on the area of a website that most influences their first impression.
12. How long to people spend viewing the hero image?
Users spend an average of 5.94 seconds looking at a website’s main image.
13. Are calls to action sometimes nowhere to be found?
Yes, more often than not. 70% of small business websites lack a Call to Action on their homepage.
14. Is plain text or a styled web page better?
If given 15 minutes to consume content, two-thirds of people would read something beautifully designed rather than something plain.
15. Are first impressions mostly based on design or content?
First impressions are 94% design-related.
16. How does visual appeal influence the end user's decision about your service or product?
The same study found that 46% of visitors based their decisions on the credibility of websites on their visual appeal and aesthetics.
17. What percentage of visitors are on mobile vs total traffic?
Mobile accounts for approximately half of web traffic worldwide. In the fourth quarter of 2021, mobile devices (excluding tablets) generated 54.4 percent of global website traffic.
18. What percentage of visitors will be on mobile in the near future?
It is projected that mobile devices will comprise 90 of internet use in the near future.
19. What percentage of e-commerce revenue is from mobile?
20. What accounts for the largest portion of negative feedback on a website?
21. Is format important?
Absolutely. Nearly 8 in 10 customers would stop engaging with content that doesn’t display well on their device
22. Are hosting and uptime important?
According to Google, 61% of users are unlikely to return to a site on mobile if they had trouble accessing it, and 40% visit a competitor’s site instead.
23. Does a website need to display well on various devices and tablets?
83% of mobile users say that a seamless experience across all devices is significant.