• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 6, 2005

The impending release of the Interland Summer 2005Business Barometer, a measure of small business online activity, shows how the leaders of  U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses feel on issues important to them. The nationwide survey of 780 small-business leaders of organizations with 500 or fewer employees found that seventy-two percent of the respondents have a business Web site, with Industry declared as 33% business services, 20% personal services, 19% retail, 17% non-profit and 11% manufacturing.

With regard to the perceived value of their website:

• 78% of respondents said their company was healthier - had a competitive advantage or stronger economic footing - because of their Web site
• 76% also identified their Web site as a tool that helps generate business leads
• 57%of those with Web sites said they generate monthly revenue through online purchases or offline purchases that were influenced by their Web site
• 53% of small businesses with Web sites say the role it plays in the business is primarily to provide company credibility
• 54%, of respondents measure Web site success by customer and prospect comments, followed by site traffic (48%)

 When asked to define the role of the Web site in their business:

• 14%  rely heavily on the website to make sales goals
• 19% say it is a tool that helps up lower costs
• 15% declare it is most powerful marketing tool we have is our website
• 53% feel the Web site provides our company credibility
• 29% say the website provides a critical building block for developing products/services
• 23% are unsure that it provides any significant value

The response to monthly revenue generated by the Web site shows that:

• 21% say none of their monthly revenue is generated by their site
• 32% say less than 10%
• 10% say 10% to 20%
• 9% say 21% to 50%
• 3% say 51% to 75%
• 2% say 76% to 99%
• 22% are uncertain

Web site success is measured in a variety of ways:

• 54% use customer/prospect comments about the site
• 24% use online sales as the criteria
• 36% say ales leads
• 48% consider site activity/traffic/number of visitors the important factor
• 21% cite efficiency of internal business processes (i.e., faster payment processing, fewer phone calls)

For more information about this study, go here.