The Empowering Business to Go Digital program, known as Navii, recently released a Digital Health Check that found that small- to medium-sized enterprises are doing less than a third of what’s required for a healthy digital presence.
The survey of 602 Australian SMEs found that small businesses only scored 32.2 per cent on a test of overall digital health, which tracks website, SEO, and social media best practices.
The average business scored just 42.8 per cent on website basics such as a clickable phone number, having opening hours and contact information displayed, and including a business address.
More worrying was that even on Facebook, SMEs only scored 18.1 per cent on best practice markers achieved on indicators such as ‘posted a minimum of two posts per week’ and ‘received at least five recommendations in the past two months.’
Instagram saw slightly better results at 24.8 per cent, with the assessment checking for signals of health including ‘listing your account as a business account’, ‘using Instagram Highlights’, and ‘using hashtags on every post’.
On an assessment of search engine best practices, SMEs scored an average of 22.1 per cent for Google My Business and local search and 30 per cent for SEO best practices. The SEO assessment examined simple best practices such as having a content-rich website, being indexed in Google, and ensuring your home page meta title and description comply with Google’s recommendations.
Liz Ward (lead image), co-founder and chief executive, Navii, said the results showed there’s still a lot of work required for SMEs to achieve a healthy digital presence.
“Across the board, the SMEs we surveyed were underdelivering across their website, social media, and search engine scores and therefore missing out on opportunities for better exposure and engagement with their target markets,” she said.
“The good news is that in many cases, making a fix can be simple — and the rewards can be huge. Now is the perfect time to reassess your digital health and take the steps required to meet the needs of your digitally savvy customer.”
