Making the decision to invest hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars into a website may seem pretty daunting, if not downright risky. After all, there are no guarantees of success, and statistically one in ten businesses fail in the first few years. This is just as true with online ventures as offline. Most business failures are directly attributed to lack of finances. This means that setting a budget and investing appropriately into marketing can mean the difference between success and failure. Again, this is just as true with online ventures as offline.
Before you invest online, you need to make sure you have the correct mindset to move forward. Your business website should not be considered an IT expense, computer expense, or web expense. While it may be all of those, above all it is a marketing expense. Everything from web hosting to purchasing ads should all be part of the big marketing picture. Once you have the proper mindset, you can then plan and move forward with the best strategies in mind, not cutting corners for a quick buck, but for a long-term investment that will pay dividends in multiples.
Internet and Marketing Statistics
- 77% of online consumers in the US use a search function to aide their e-shopping experience. (Pricewaterhouse Coopers, March 2001. http://www.shop.org/learn/stats_usshop_general.asp)
- Those with household incomes of $50,000 and above are more likely to purchase online (81%) than consumers with household incomes under $50,000 (64%). (Greenfield Online, March 2001. http://www.shop.org/learn/stats_usshop_general.asp)
- 28% of e-shoppers say that the Internet makes them shop more often and 33% say they tend to exceed their shopping budget online. (Cyber Dialogue, April 2001. http://www.shop.org/learn/stats_usshop_general.asp)
- In 2003 it was determined that 31% of the total adult population (36-country survey) uses the Internet. (http://www.feb.ugent.be/fac/research/WP/Papers/wp_03_205.pdf)
- E-commerce sales will account for 10% of total U.S. retail sales by 2008. (Forrester Research, August 2003. http://www.shop.org/learn/stats_usshop_general.asp)
- Online consumer retail spending reached $1.02 billion for the week ending June 27, online sales in the first six months of this year reached $27.8 billion, up 25.27% from $22.2 billion in last year’s first half. Sales for the week ending June 27 were up 31% from the corresponding week a year ago. (ComScore, July 2004. http://www.shop.org/learn/stats_usshop_general.asp)
- Nearly 100 million adults made purchases after doing online research last year, coming close to the number of adults who purchased through catalogs, direct-mail ads and telemarketing calls combined. (The Dieringer Research Group, August 2004. http://www.shop.org/learn/stats_usshop_general.asp)
- For every $1 spent online, consumers are influenced to spend another $6 offline. (Jupiter Research, August 2004. http://www.shop.org/learn/stats_usshop_general.asp)
- 43% of Internet users bought products from a retailer’s offline store after viewing them on the seller’s Website. (Jupiter Research, August 2004. http://www.shop.org/learn/stats_usshop_general.asp)
- In 2005 online shopping is expected to reach $168 billion in sales and as much as $316 billion by 2010. (http://www.shop.org/learn/stats_usshop_general.asp)
- 70% of US adults use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and services — up from 60% in October 2003. (Kelsey Group and ConStat, March 2005. http://www.shop.org/learn/stats_usshop_general.asp)
- Search engine optimization is one of the most affordable forms of advertising and produces an exceptionally high return on investment (ROI). (https://www.polepositionmarketing.com/knowledge/advertising.htm)
- 93.4% of respondents use the Internet to research a B to B purchase decision. (http://www.searchengineguide.com/mintz/004217.html)
- 63.9% of respondents go to the search engine as the first step in the buying process. (http://www.searchengineguide.com/mintz/004217.html)
- 54.6% of the people are 1-3 months away from making a buying decision. 89.7% of the people are 2 weeks to 6 months away from making a buying decision. (http://www.searchengineguide.com/mintz/004217.html)
- 36.8% researched and bought online; 27.3% researched online and bought offline; only 7.9% didn’t find what they were looking for. (http://www.searchengineguide.com/mintz/004217.html)
- 76.7% of Google users used the natural search links.
(http://www.searchengineguide.com/mintz/004217.html) - The top 3 organic listings accounted for 59.6% of the click-thrus. (http://www.searchengineguide.com/mintz/004217.html)
- The cost to acquire a customer is about $8.50 for search, $20 for Yellow Pages, $50 for online display ads, $60 for email and $70 for direct mail. (http://www.parkerwebdevelopers.com/PWD_News_041805.pdf )
These statistics should reinforce in your mind the value of not just building a website but investing in effective online marketing strategies.