The Small Business Web Presence: Use of Third Party Portals in Australia

Abstract

As part of their ‘web presence’ that extends beyond the use of their own website, many small businesses employ the services of third party websites. However, the extent of this use of the extended web is not well known. This paper examines the third party website use of 50 Australian small businesses that have used the services of third party websites, particularly web portals and directories, and determines the extent of their use and the features employed on the websites. Some 82% of the small businesses that were examined had a presence on at least one third party website. There are a number of differences that can be attributed to different business sectors. The heaviest user of third party websites were the accommodation, cafe and restaurant in relation to the types of portals used and the services selected on those portals. The retail and personal services business categories were at the next level of usage. Other business categories employed differing levels of third party services, but each of these categories relied predominantly on business portals as their chosen portal type.