I've had a thesis since the early days of starting Mountwell Marketing: most small businesses need to focus on doing all the right marketing fundamentals, and not chasing hype and trends.
However, this was just based on my experience. I didn't have as much data as I would've liked.
This weekend I finished a project that supports my intuition: a comprehensive audit of hundreds of business websites, all scored across different criteria to assess how well local businesses are implementing the essential best practices for SEO, usability and some accessibility basics.
In other words, is the average small business making it as easy as possible for people to find them, and giving people what they want?
I picked one nearby ZIP code, 08108, which covers the popular commercial district along Haddon Ave in Collingswood and Westmont. I examined every Google listing I could find, and put together a detailed analysis on my website.
I highly recommend you check it out in full and let me know if it spurs any thoughts or questions for your own business. For me, there are a few key takeaways.
First, the bar is low for having a great local business website. Nothing I looked for is overly complex to implement, if you just know what to do. Any business could easily jump to the top in terms of site quality and completeness in their area.
Second, I was surprised to find how many different tools business owners are using to build and host websites. This illustrates another thing that I think makes entrepreneurship overly difficult: everyone is reinventing the wheel when it comes to technology. Getting some experienced guidance on these questions before launching a business would help a lot of entrepreneurs succeed faster.
Lastly, I would like to see a world where all these fundamentals are table stakes, and business owners can then focus their attention on running their business better, and being more creative. Get the basics done, so you can take your business to the next level.
P.S. I'm already running the tools I built to create this analysis against all the websites I maintain, and using them for all new websites I build. If you're a current client, you'll be hearing from me about some of the improvements I'll be making to your own site!
Liked this edition? Forward it to another business owner who might like it, or leave us a Google review! Want to discuss this or another topic for your business? Book a call.