Over 30,000 local small to medium businesses are now online, thanks to Google and MYOB‘s Getting Aussie Business Online initative, which kicked off just 12 months ago.
The national Getting Aussie Business Online program has given tens of thousands of businesses access to the MYOB Atlas website builder and other tools needed to create a website in 15 minutes, at no cost for its first year.
So far, start-ups from the eastern states and well-established SMBs have been the biggest uptake groups, with the business services, construction and trades and retail industries the most represented.
Getting Aussie Business Online customer Brigette Kelly of The French Pawtisserie said taking up the free website offer was the easiest business decision she’s ever made.
“I always knew I’d love to have an online store as it’s quite risky in this climate to open a store, despite the lack of overheads and other expenses because I work from home, but I couldn’t afford a person to create a website for me. Now, I’ve quit my fulltime job that I returned to after maternity leave and look after my son full time while baking dog biscuits and running a small business,” she said.
MYOB CEO Tim Reed said the 30,000 businesses have received a combined 4 million visits from 1.4 million unique visitors.
“The more than 60 percent of Australian businesses that haven’t harnessed the internet’s power by creating a website are facing a terrific opportunity to stand apart from competitors, to generate awareness of what they have to offer potential customers and business partners,” he said.
Reed said MYOB’s research has found businesses with a website generate 6 percent more revenue than those without, and as many Australians head online to research purchases almost two thirds of SMBs are missing out on revenue generated this way.
“This could mean the difference between success and closing up shop, which is something that as a nation we should be striving to prevent,” he added.
Early next month, MYOB plans will launch more than 20 new themes with a range of colour palates and website layouts, allowing SMBs to personalise their websites further.
