Cambridge small business websites: what we noticed walking round town

Over a few afternoons we searched for fifty independent Cambridge businesses we had walked past: cafés, tradespeople, clinics, shops, clubs. A few patterns came out.

What we found

• Around a third had no working website, or a page that had clearly not been touched in years.
• Most that did have one were slow on a phone, usually because of photos uploaded straight from a camera.
• Opening hours were wrong on either the site or the Google listing for about one in four.
• Very few took bookings or payments online, even where the business type suited it.
• The best sites were not the fanciest. They were the ones with a clear phone number, real photos and hours you could trust.

What it means

The bar is low, which is good news. A fast, honest site with correct details and one clear action puts you ahead of most of the street. That is what a managed site is for.