What Do the Next 12 Months Have in Store?
2010 was a roller coaster ride for many small businesses online. While some were given a much needed boost by the changes to Google Places listings, others saw PPC costs rise to a level that was no longer sustainable.
So what does 2011 hold for online SMEs? While there’s no way of knowing for sure just yet, it’s not going to stop me making some predictions.
- More SMEs will turn away from PPC as costs continue to rise
With more prominence being given to Google Places results for search terms with a location included, I predict PPC usage will reduce. However, if Bing is able to significantly increase its market share, they may be able to take advantage of PPC advertisers migrating from Google.
In recent years the competitive nature of PPC in many sectors and lack of understanding has caused cost per click prices to increase to a level where it’s no longer financially viable for SMEs to bid on certain search terms and phrases.
- SME social media use will increase
This may seem an obvious prediction but there’s slightly more to it. With Google and Bing admitting last year that social media activity would have some influence in the search engine rankings, it seems natural that more small business owners will get on board.
While social media may increase in numbers of SMEs using it, my prediction is that those who do will start to use it less frequently as the year progresses.
Many people will disagree with this but in my opinion, the increased ‘noise’ generated by social media will lead to it being used more sparingly.
- Google Places will change again
While it’s unlikely to change name again, I believe it’s almost certain that Google Places as we know it in January 2011 will be rather different come the end of the year.
Google has been experimenting with local listings for some time now and my gut feeling is there will be many tweaks and twists along the way before they arrive at something they’re completely happy with.
- Online marketing budgets will reduce
With many new businesses predicted to be starting up in 2011 due to impending job cuts, I think overall SMEs online marketing budgets will reduce.
More and more people will cotton on to the fact they can do a lot of online marketing themselves rather than paying a third party to do it.
- Online business collaborations will rise significantly
In times of economic adversity people look for different ways to flourish in business. As the old saying goes “two heads are better than one” and many more SMEs will look to work with competitors rather than against them.
For example, you may be one of two web designers in a small town, both just about making enough to get by. By joining forces you instantly have no local competition and may well be able to offer clients a much more professional and complete service by combining your skill sets.
- There will be no ‘next big thing’ in social media
There are only so many hours in the day and I believe that there will be no mass uptake of any new social media platforms among SMEs in 2011.
With established favourites like YouTube, Twitter & Facebook dominating the market, it’s my prediction that there will be no room for a ‘new kid on the block’ to come along and grab a sizeable slice of the social media action.
- Most SMEs won’t become ‘mobile-friendly’
With the popularity of smartphones continuing to rise, more and more people are accessing the web on the move. With this in mind, it’s important for any business to make sure their website displays correctly on mobile devices. Sites such as http://emulator.mtld.mobi let you see for free what your site may look like on mobile handsets.
My prediction for 2011 is that despite the obvious growth in smartphone use, most SMEs will not do anything about ensuring they have a mobile-friendly version of their site; this will mainly be down to lack of budget.
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