46% of UK small business has no website

GuyClapperton 0 608 Views

Sometimes you see a press release that's just company puff. Other times you find something you weren't expecting - like the revelation that 46% of the UK's smallest businesses don't have a website, according to 1&1 Internet.

The initial reaction is to start making excuses. If they're very small then maybe they can't spare the time to develop one; I thought that for a moment until recalling that I am myself a one-person business, a freelance journalist, and although it's based on a pre-packaged design my own website at least exists.

There are of course micro businesses that don't need a website. 15 years or so when websites first began my window cleaner asked me whether he should get one; we quickly concluded that he'd be better off spending his time and money on leaflets for local potential customers than putting a website together that might attract interest from areas he had no intention of serving.

There are other examples, though, when it's crazy not to have something online. Two nights ago my wife and I decided to eat Chinese. We have a favourite restaurant so we Googled it and found...no menu. We found another and were able to choose our food online, order it and have it delivered. I'll leave you to guess who got the business that day.

Members of this forum will be well aware that websites don't have to be particularly complex and they don't always have to be transactional, it's really going to depend on what's appropriate to the business. The fact that so many businesses in the UK are missing out is indeed a surprise.

Dani AI

Generated

Useful update and practical context for the statistic quoted by in 2010, and for the replies from , and .

The 2010 figure that nearly half of the smallest UK businesses had no website was a useful wake-up call then, but the landscape has shifted and different surveys measure different things. The UK Business Data Survey 2024 puts the share of UK businesses that say they have a website at about 68% (so roughly a third still report no website), and it explicitly notes differences by firm size and by how surveys define “website.” UK Business Data Survey 2024. (gov.uk)

Consumer behaviour has changed too: online sales now represent a steady, material slice of retail (roughly mid-20s percent of total retail sales in recent ONS releases), which helps explain why a missing menu or no basic contact info can mean lost trade for a local merchant. [ONS Retail Sales, March 2025 bulletin]. (https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/retailindustry/bulletins/retailsales/march2025). (ons.gov.uk)

Survey methodology matters: earlier ONS and e‑commerce reports used different samples (some excluded micro or home-based firms), producing lower or higher percentages at different times — that explains apparent contradictions between 2010, 2014–2018 and later figures. See ONS e‑commerce & ICT activity for the historical view. (https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/itandinternetindustry/bulletins/ecommerceandictactivity/2018). (ons.gov.uk)

Practical takeaway (short, actionable):

  • Quick win: add a free Google Business Profile entry and a one‑page site with name, phone, hours, location and core offering — that fixes the “no menu / no hours” problem fast.
  • Mid term: use a simple site builder or marketplace listing and add basic analytics; make sure contact and ordering options are obvious.
  • If fieldwork/local leafleting is genuinely the best fit (as and the window‑cleaner anecdote imply), treat a small web presence as an insurance policy — it’s cheap and discoverable when customers search.

In regions where mobile uptake has been fastest (APAC, India, Philippines), the upside from a mobile‑friendly presence has been larger — the mobile economy reports show rapid smartphone and mobile‑internet growth there, which backs and ’s points. (GSMA Asia‑Pacific mobile economy reporting). (gsma.com)

Caveat: definitions and samples vary between surveys, so use the government/business‑support sources above when planning — they give the most reliable, up‑to‑date baselines.

Member Avatar for jennypitts
jennypitts 3 Junior Poster

The truth is that whether it is in England, Ireland or even here in the USA, most small business do not have the need for a website, can afford the maintenance of one or even think they will benefit at all from it.

As for you forkhyun, I think you are posting your link or AD in the wrong part of the forum. If you want to advertise your webpage services you need to go to the Business Exchange section of the forum.

Member Avatar for stellarios
stellarios 0 Newbie Poster

In the Philippines, small businesses actually get more sales from their websites. Its the exact opposite, if I may say. IMO, having a website has many benefits even in a small business.

Member Avatar for anoopWebtech
anoopWebtech 0 Newbie Poster

in india; now the market is fastly moving to online....
mobile internet is a major factor on that....and it's very useful for lazy peoples.....

Edited by Ezzaral because: Snipped 'fake sig' link. Please restrict such links to your site-wide user signature, which can be edited from the user control panel.
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