Geoff Simmons, Gillian Armstrong and Mark Durkin, from the University of Ulster, identified several factors likely to influence the adoption of websites and their optimisation by SMEs. They undertook 20 case studies of small firms within the Irish food industry. Their paper was published in the International Small Business Journal in 2011.
They identified four key findings that are illustrated in the following diagram. This shows their theoretical framework of a small business website optimisation process. The first key element is the owner-manager’s characteristics. They need to be entrepreneurial and strongly market oriented. Willing to embrace technology and the opportunities it offers.
Secondly, these SME owners also need to have what they refer to as an “e-Vision”. This is a situation in which the owners are positive about the benefits that can be derived from online business. The owner must be prepared to overcome obstacles, and make the necessary investment to build web-based systems that develop customer trust and exploit online business opportunities.
Third, the website adoption and optimisation process is only made possible by understanding the customer. In particular their needs and how they might want to engage with the business online. Formal market research may be required to fully understand how best to design and configure the website to enhance customer usage.
Finally, the fourth element is for the optimised website to be enabled through the use of an online value proposition. This can take the form of information on products and services but with customer feedback mechanisms allow them to rate products and engage with the company. In essence the website must be informative, engaging, interactive and useful
According to the Sensis e-Business report Australian SMEs are also not making much use of the internet for advertising with only 38% reporting any online promotion. Only 22% were advertising on social media and as few as 5% of firms were engaged in advertising on mobile platforms.
This is something of a missed opportunity as the cost of online promotion is generally much lower than for mainstream mass media advertising. Online communication channels also enable the business to be more selective in its targeting of customers.
The use of social media for business purposes was reported by only 27% of SMEs. These firms were primarily doing so by having a Facebook page. As shown in the following graph this comprised 86% of social media users. The next largest social media used was Twitter (32%) followed by LinkedIn (25%) with 12% using blogs.
Sensis e-Business Report 2012 – Australian SMEs use of social media, Source: Sensis e-Business Report and Sweeney Research 2012.
When asked about the merits of using social media opinion was evenly divided with 49% positive, 2% negative and 49% saying that it was having no impact. However, only 21% reported monitoring and updating their social media presence on a daily basis. A further 39% updated their social media at least weekly and 11% did so a few times each year.
Not surprisingly social media use was found mostly amongst the personal services, cultural and recreation sectors. Much lower use was found within building and construction firms.
