Online use declining among SMEs
Online business activity among Australia's small and medium-sized enterprises appears to be on the decline, according to new research released by MYOB.
The research identified a significant decline in what it described as "proactive online business activity among small to medium businesses".
It said this was despite an increasing number of SMEs running their own website.
The MYOB July Business Monitor survey covered 1004 SME operators and found that while the proportion with a business website rose slightly in the past few months (from 36 per cent in March 2012 to 38 per cent), online business activity - including online transactions, email marketing and social media - was in decline.
It found less than 24 per cent of SMEs used search engines to promote their business, down from 31 per cent in March 2012.
The research found that social media activity such as connecting with consumers via Facebook, YouTube or Google+ had also dwindled, as had networking on LinkedIn.
Commenting on the re-survey, MYOB chief executive Tim Reed said the decline in popularity of online business activities had been completely unexpected, particularly that of online marketing and social media.
"Many of these tools, such as a basic LinkedIn page, are free and can be used to raise the profile of a business and to communicate with customers," he said.
The MYOB survey also found that more business operators were experiencing revenue falls and were experiencing rises with the majority lacking confidence in a short-term economic recovery.
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