Your customers are online almost all the time. Are you?
By Rieva Lesonsky
I’m hoping you’re among the 50% of small business owners who not only have websites, but also have active sites that are optimized for mobile viewing. It never ceases to amaze me when I hear that about half of all small businesses don’t have websites—it’s 2018, people, wake up!
Think I’m being hyperbolic? I’m not. Americans are online—a lot. So, if your business doesn’t have a website, it’s increasingly likely they will not be able to find you.
Check out these recent statistics from Pew Research Center: 26% of American say they go online “almost constantly.” In total, 77% of Americans go online every day. That includes the ones online all the time, the 43% who are online “several times a day,” and the 8% who go online once a day. Only 11% of Americans don’t use the internet at all.
Americans who have mobile internet access are online even more. Of the 83% of who access the internet (at least occasionally) using a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device, 89% go online daily, and 31% are online almost constantly.
If you’re selling to younger people, the fact that 39% of 18- to 29-year-olds are online “almost constantly” and 49% are online “multiple times a day” should come as no surprise.
But Americans aged 30 to 49 are also online “almost constantly.” And even the share of Americans aged 50 to 64 who are constantly online has risen from 12% to 17% since 2015.
Businesses will also find college-educated adults, black adults, adults who live in higher-income households and non-rural residents online frequently.
So, if you’re wondering where your customers are, they’re online (and on mobile), so make sure your business is there as well.
Smartphone stock photo by Ollyy/Shutterstock
