A survey by an online marketing company has discovered that too many small businesses are failing to keep their websites up to date, although they all say they want to stay at the top of the Google search ratings.

The poll of 300 small companies by Infoserve found far too much complacency among respondents. For instance, although 80 per cent agreed that it was important to stay on the first page of Google search results, over a third of websites operated by small businesses “rarely or never” updated the content.

Over 25 per cent of small businesses had no idea of what their rivals’ websites looked like – and 15 per cent were even prepared to admit that their competitors had better sites than their own.

Infoserve chief executive Steve Barnes stressed that regularly updated web copy was essential for any businesses wishing to achieve and maintain high rankings among search engines.

“It appears that a large number of small firms believe that once they have created a website the job is done, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Mr Barnes added.

“Having fresh, tailored and relevant content plays a key role in determining search engine results.”

SEO analyst Lucy Whittington warned that small businesses risked near-invisibility online if they failed to update their websites regularly.

“Think of the Internet like a big pile of grain ― new information is being added all the time and if you don’t keep up to date, you’ll slowly disappear from view,” she said.

Ms Whittington suggested that small businesses could maintain a “news section” on their sites to ensure that new copy was regularly uploaded.

Dan Coysh

Daniel has been a freelance journalist and providing SEO Copywriting services for over three years now at Online Media Direct, after eight years as reporter and news editor for a national newspaper. He has provided SEO news content for a number of sites and on several occasions has completely rewritten a website’s text – both in the public and private sectors.

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