Online problems facing small businesses
Reports show that 64% of small businesses would describe their website as adequate, 23% say that their website is up-to-date, 11% say their website is out of date while a further 11% say that their website is poor and embarrassing.

These figures can be seen as the result of small businesses wanting better design, cheaper hosting and a more advanced analytics system. Other problems that arose were the fact that a lot of small businesses are unable to update their website themselves, unable to accept online payments and unable to host a blog.

How small businesses are using social media
Reports show that over a third of small businesses are turning to Facebook as their preferred social network for generating new business. This tops resources such as Yellow Pages and Thompson. Twitter is also becoming increasingly popular with 17% of small businesses using the platform to drum up new leads.

Despite 1.1 million people using the internet and social media for their businesses, there are still 660,000 businesses who are not online. This will hopefully change over time as 74% of businesses online say that it is the most effective way to generate new business and build a reputation. It is also apparent that social media sites are a cheaper alternative to directories which is sure to sway small businesses.

How to use mobile resources for your business
Mobile resources are also on the increase according to reports – 45% of internet browsers will use a mobile device such as an iPhone to access the web. It has also been shown that 6% of these users have purchased items from their mobile phones proving that shopping on-the-go is very much present. Many small businesses believe that creating a mobile apps is too time-consuming and complicated meaning that they could be missing out on potential business.

With mobile usage set to increase, there is growing concern amongst small businesses that they may be losing out.