In one of the most meaningless, much-ado-about-nothing press releases I’ve seen in quite some time, it turns out that Web Sites Work for SMBs (small to medium-sized businesses.)

The survey, done by Interland, reported first by internetnews.com and found by me through ZDNet as "54% of small Web retailers buy search engine optimization services," is almost as pointless as me blogging about it.

Let’s see…

"76 percent of SMBs said they pluck plenty of leads from their Web sites." Well, that sounds official, and pretty specific. You can totally figure out your ROI from that. Let’s see, 76%, divided by "plenty"…. Not mentioned was the 20% of SMBs that "found few" leads, or the 4% that "nabbed none."

"…a whopping 82 percent of the survey [that had e-commerce sites] reported that they generate monthly revenue via their Web site." So, 18% of e-commerce sites don’t sell anything at all? Or are these just sites hosted by Interland? Also, is generating revenue the goal, or generating profit?

"Another 57 [percent or respondents? not clear] noted in the survey said they generate leads from their Web sites." So 43% of SMBs have a Web site that doesn’t generate ANY leads for them?!? These people need a new strategy for their Web site and Web marketing.

Outside of generating some press for Interland and providing me fodder for my blog, I can’t say what insights this survey would give to small and medium size business owners. (I’m talking about the size of the business, not the size of the owner.)

If you’ve got e-commerce and you’re not making sales, you’ve got a problem. If you’ve got a Web site and it’s not generating leads for you, you’ve got a problem.

The problem may be in your Web design, your Web marketing, or in a really bad business plan. Regardless, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and focus on your business goals.

Rich Brooks
Apparently part of the 57%