Many small firms' web sites are failing to get noticed by internet users, driving down their sales revenue, a new study warns.
Research by Fasthosts reveals that 68% of businesses are invisible to potential online visitors because they have failed to take advantage of popular search engine rankings.
Many consumers turn to Google and other search engines when looking for products and services, and firms that fail to submit their web sites to search engines miss out on a significant chunk of sales, the report warns.
Online sales are forecast to reach £19.6 billion this year, according to data from the Internet Advertising Bureau, a 35% increase over 2004. This accounts for 7% of all retail spending, and it is due to rise even higher over 2006.
"Companies that believe it's enough to register a site and stick the web address on business cards are naïve," said Andrew Michael, chief executive of Fasthosts. "If you are not listed on Google or Yahoo!, your web site might as well not be online."
Michael said that for firms to increase their online visibility, they must submit their web sites to a variety of search engines after their sites have been created and registered.
To stay within and move up a search engine's rankings, firms must continue submission updates on a regular basis.
Altering design, text copy or link-building elements that search engines check when indexing a site can also improve a web site's ranking, he said.
