Non-submission of web sites to search engines could cost firms dear, warns Fasthost

Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are losing revenue because they do not submit their web sites to search engines and are therefore missing potential visitors and custom, according to research by web hosting firm Fasthosts.

In a survey of 2,094 small and medium-sized businesses, nearly half said they did not submit their sites to any search engines, according to Fasthosts’ SMEs On The Web report.

Also, two-thirds of internet users said they only look at the first two pages of search results. “The principal issue is a lack of knowledge about search engines,” argued Andrew Michael, chief executive of Fasthosts. “There is still a misperception amongst SMEs that elevating your web presence and optimising your web site for search engines is some kind of black art.”

Michael said firms should submit their web sites to search engines immediately after registering their sites, and should update submissions on a regular basis. He added that relevant keywords should be included in homepages, in meta tags and in coding pages.

Conrad Bennett, European technical services director of web analytics spec- ialist WebTrends, said he was not surprised by the survey’s findings. “It is an opportunity missed for a lot of companies – you can’t afford to have someone searching for your name and [for them] to find your rival’s name instead,” he added.

Meanwhile, a survey carried out by WebTrends has highlighted the growing importance of the web to firms’ marketing strategies. According to WebTrends’ CMO Web-Smart Report, most organisations plan to increase their investment in web marketing during 2006.

WebTrends questioned 250 marketing executives and more than 50 percent said the web was either at the hub of their organisation’s marketing strategy, or would achieve this position in the next year.