Dive Brief:

• Websites are easier and cheaper to build than ever, but 40% of small businesses still don't have one and 28% say they likely won't in the future, according to a new survey by Visual Objects, a portfolio website featuring creative firms worldwide. The businesses that chose not to invest in a website cited cost and irrelevance to their company's needs as the reasons. Those same firms tend to use traditional marketing, public relations and their personal networks to promote their businesses. However, most of the small businesses polled (60%) have websites.
• Jackson Fox, director of user experience at Viget, a Washington, D.C.-based full-service digital agency, said in a statement that relying on word-of-mouth to promote a business has drawbacks. "At some point, businesses get into the outer reaches of that word-of-mouth network. Without a digital presence in some way, people who don't know you may not trust your business."
• Survey results also found that 65% of SMBs spend less than $10,000 on designing, building and launching their websites. Nearly 20% of SMBs use a web design agency to maintain their websites, but most use internal staff (52%).

Dive Insight:

As websites like Glassdoor and kununu make employee reviews of their work experiences much more public, many employers are learning — potentially the hard way — that a digital presence is a must in the current job market. But the news is mostly good for employers willing to put in the effort to showcase their employee value proposition on the internet; 40% of candidates said they would be more likely to put in an application if they were familiar with the company brand, a 2018 Glassdoor survey said. And the vast majority of decision-makers (75%) agreed that it would ease their recruitment process if their service or brand name was more well-known.

While most small businesses have a website, the challenge for these companies is to use their sites to bolster their brand. A brand that conveys a positive, innovative, inclusive and forward-thinking work environment can give companies an advantage in the competition for talent.

Even bigger companies with a separate HR department can take the survey as a reminder of the various ways employer brand can be more widely shared. Employees can be powerful resources, too, especially if they are encouraged to share their experiences on social media.