Only half of the 4.3 million businesses in the UK with fewer than 10 staff have a website, new research has revealed.
The figure is reduced to 28% when sole traders are included, according to a poll by Jupiter Research on behalf on Microsoft.
“Ways of attracting and retaining customers will always be challenges for businesses large and small,” said Mark Strudwick CBE, chief executive of The Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust.
The comments come as Microsoft launches new features for its Office Live package including email marketing tools aimed specifically at small businesses and sole traders.
Businesses that sign up to the service receive web hosting, site design tools, content management software, a domain name and up to 100 business email accounts.
Tim Kimber, UK product manager for Microsoft Office Live Small Business, said: “Today having a professional website is as fundamental to running a small business as having business cards.”
In addition to the extra online promotion tools the service now also includes a PayPal ‘buy now’ tool so businesses can add ecommerce functionality to their site.
For more information visit www.officelive.com
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