Why a website and Google profile give Yorkshire Coast businesses a head start

I recently checked 279 independent tourist businesses on the Yorkshire Coast. 141 of them (51%) have no website at all. 138 (49%) do.

That's one sector in one area, checked by hand, so it isn't a national picture. But it tells me something useful. If you're a small business here with a website and a properly set up Google profile, you're already ahead of more than half your neighbours.

Here's what the research says about why that matters, and why I'd do it now.

The gap is your opening

Nationally, the picture is different. The government's UK Business Data Survey 2026, published in June, found that 78% of UK businesses have a website, up from 68% two years earlier. For sole traders it's 76%, up from 65%.

Compare that with the 49% I found on this coast. It isn't a like-for-like comparison, but the direction is clear. Businesses elsewhere are catching up, and the ones here that haven't yet will find the gap closing.

Research firm BrightLocal points the same way. Its 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey says just 40% of local businesses have a dedicated website and only 35% have a Google Business Profile.

People look before they arrive

Google's own UK travel research found that people spend about three times longer planning a trip than taking it: 74% planning, 26% travelling. Most of that planning happens online.

Ofcom's Online Nation report says there are about 3 billion Google searches a month in the UK, and 82% of adults use Google Search.

BrightLocal's search behaviour research (1,227 US consumers) found that 84% had searched for a local business online in the last three months. For 73%, the most recent search started on a phone. And 75% used more than one channel before deciding.

On a stretch of coast, a lot of your customers are visitors who've never heard of you. They don't walk past and decide. They look first.

Your website and your Google profile do different jobs

When someone searches "café Whitby" or "things to do near me", Google works out roughly where they are and shows nearby businesses that fit.

Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. If the searcher doesn't share their location, Google uses what it already knows about where they are. Prominence includes how many reviews you have and how many websites link to you.

Two lists come out of that: the map listings at the top, and the ordinary results beneath.

A survey of 47 local SEO experts by Whitespark, summarised by BrightLocal, suggests the map listings lean mostly on your Google Business Profile, at about 32% of the weighting. The ordinary results lean mostly on your website, at about 33%, with the profile counting for only 7%. That's expert opinion rather than figures Google has published, but it's a useful rule of thumb.

So your profile helps you appear on the map. Your website gives you a second chance to appear in the results underneath. And once someone finds you, the website is where they check you're real, open and right for them.

I'd be wary of anyone who promises you a position on Google. Nobody can. What you can do is make sure Google has the right information in both places.

Trust and professionalism

The most direct trust research I found is American, and it comes from a web host, so it isn't neutral. DreamHost's 2026 Local Business Trust Index (1,200+ US consumers) found that 69% say a website is essential for a local business to be credible. Businesses with one were seen as 41% more trustworthy, and 45% said a business without one feels less "real".

Reviews and websites work together. In BrightLocal's review survey, 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses. After reading positive ones, 66% did more research and 54% visited the business's website. A good review sends people to your door. Your website decides whether they carry on.

First impressions count too. Research from Stanford, widely quoted, says 75% of people judge a company's credibility by its website design. It's an old study, but I don't think human behaviour has changed much.

And small details matter. BrightLocal research, reported by BestVersionMedia, found that 46% of consumers lose trust in a business after seeing an incorrect address, and 45% after seeing an incorrect phone number. Opening hours, address and phone number need to match everywhere.

Why a Facebook page isn't enough

Ofcom found that Meta and Alphabet together take more than half of the time UK adults spend online. Your customers are on those platforms. But you're renting space there.

Facebook page reach has fallen a long way. HubSpot reported that organic reach dropped from about 16% of followers in 2012 to 6.5% by 2014, and agency estimates now put it at roughly 1–5%. Treat the recent figures as a rough range.

A website is the one place online that's yours. DreamHost found that 58% of consumers check a business's website to confirm what they've seen on social media or Google.

Why now

A few things are moving quickly.

• AI is now part of the search. BrightLocal found that the share of consumers using AI tools for local recommendations rose from 6% to 45% in a year. DreamHost found only 35% would consider a business recommended by AI if it had no website.

• Standards are rising. 31% of consumers now only use businesses rated 4.5 stars or more, up from 17% a year earlier. And 47% won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews. Reviews take time to collect, so the sooner you start, the better.

• Another listing to get right. Apple Maps use for finding reviews nearly doubled, from 14% to 27%.

• Others are catching up. Sole traders with a website went from 65% to 76% in two years.

None of that means panic. It means the people who sort the basics now will be hard to catch.

What to do this week

1. Search your business name on your phone. See what a stranger sees.

2. Check your Google Business Profile: opening hours, category, phone number, website link.

3. Look at your Apple Maps listing too.

4. Ask three recent customers for a Google review.

5. If you've no website, start with the basics: Home, About and Contact.

If you'd like a hand, I've set up a Start-up Website from £400. It includes your domain name, first-year hosting and three mobile-friendly pages. Business Profiles & Maps is a £200 extra, covering your Google Business Profile, Google Maps, Apple Maps and Facebook business page.

Sources: UK Business Data Survey 2026 (DSIT) · Ofcom Online Nation 2025 · Think with Google UK · Google Business Profile Help · BrightLocal (Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, Consumer Search Behavior 2026, ranking factors guide; US) · DreamHost Local Business Trust Index 2026 (US) · HubSpot · Big Roots Marketing own research, August 2026.