Many Small Businesses Don't Need a Website?

Though a branded website might once have been an essential marketing tool for most small businesses, some now argue it is less essential. It might go too far to say it is "unnecessary." But it might be true to say that, in some cases, where a firm is active on social media, a branded website requires less support, because it is less important.

Social media is the reason. Yes, you do need something for potential customers to bring up in their browsers when they type in "yourcompanynamedotcom."

But small businesses that are active on other sites with social capabilities might well find that they can get their messages out on third party sites, about as effectively as on their own sites.

According to a Citibank study, that is precisely what many small businesses are doing. Although the vast majority (70 percent) of business owners use their company website for marketing purposes, more than 40 percent of small business owners now use social media channels (including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) to reach consumers.Those tactics are not exclusive, but simply indicate the expanded range of options small businesses now possess.