Half of small businesses do not track visits to their websites, a study has shown.   

ThomsonLocal.com teamed up with Analytics SEO to audit UK sites and found either very basic Search Engine Optimisation was in place – or, in the worst cases, was non-existent among companies with fewer than 50 employees

Jill Pringle (pictured), marketing director, ThomsonLocal.com said: “Local businesses need to wake up to the fact that investing in better quality websites with original content can bring them new customers more quickly. Ensuring the website they build is search engine friendly is essential.”

Laurence O’Toole (pictured), managing director of Analytics SEO, added: “We were really surprised how many SMEs still have not invested in SEO.  Companies need to adopt a new approach to their online presence.

Even if a company does not have a transactional website, the adverse effect on sales of a poor website could be substantial.”

Key findings of the study, The State of UK Business Websites 2010, also showed: 

• 74 per cent have no basic website analytics software for tracking site visits  
• 12 per cent of all business websites are not indexed in any search engine  
• 0.6 per cent of business websites are under  construction  
• Only three per cent of all business websites could be considered to have advanced levels of SEO  
• 82 per cent have no HTML sitemap  
• 75 per cent have no XML sitemap.