Do Customers Trust Businesses With Websites? Comparing the Surveys

Launch915 recommends that most small businesses have a website: a practical place to present services or a menu, business hours, location, and ways to get in touch. But a recommendation is not the same thing as evidence. This article looks at what consumer surveys about websites and trust actually measured, who paid for them, and where their limits are.

A website also does not guarantee customers, search rankings, or revenue. What it can do depends on the business, its market, and how the site is used alongside other channels.

The Six Surveys at a Glance

The table summarizes each study. Because the questions, samples and dates differ, the percentages should be read individually, not compared or averaged.

1. DreamHost – 2026 Local Business Trust Index

DreamHost surveyed 1,201 Americans ages 18–64 in November 2025 about how they evaluate and trust local businesses. DreamHost's published terms require permission for commercial reuse of its findings, and we have not obtained that permission, so we do not reproduce its percentages here. You can read the figures in the DreamHost 2026 Local Business Trust Index.

Limitations to keep in mind when reading it: the results are self-reported experiences and opinions, not tracked purchases, competitor switching, or revenue. The published methodology does not describe recruitment, weighting, the full questionnaire, or response rate. Adults 65 and older were excluded. Where respondents recall declining to visit a business, no timeframe is given. DreamHost sells hosting and website-building services.

2. Service Direct – 2022 consumer survey

Of 614 U.S. consumers surveyed, 36% said they were unlikely or highly unlikely to patronize a small business without a website. Only 22% said they were likely or very likely to, but that rose to 63% when a friend recommended the business. Both results come from the same survey, and the second matters as much as the first: a recommendation substantially changed respondents' stated willingness.

These are stated likelihoods, not observed purchases. The summary gives limited sampling information, the data is from 2022, and Service Direct sells lead-generation services. Source: Service Direct consumer small business survey.

3. Vistaprint Digital Services – 2016 survey

In April 2016, over 2,000 U.S. respondents took part, and about one in three said they were unlikely to shop at a small business without a website. This is historical context, not a current estimate or a customer-loss rate. The press release is the sponsor's own account with limited methodology, and Vistaprint Digital Services had a commercial interest in selling digital services. Source: Vistaprint Digital Services Online Identity press release.

4. 451 Research, commissioned by Verisign – 2019–2020 study

451 Research surveyed 5,450 online consumers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia in December 2019 and January 2020. Participants owned smart devices and actively shopped online. Among consumers surveyed, 66% agreed that a business with its own website is more credible than one without.

A strength: the report names the research firm and shows question wording and response breakdowns. But credibility is a perception, not a measured sales outcome; the sample is neither all Americans nor El Paso consumers; and the findings are several years old. Verisign, which commissioned the study, benefits from domain adoption, and a named outside firm does not remove sponsor influence. Source: Verisign / 451 Research report on websites and branded email (PDF).

5. Constant Contact / WiseWorks – 2021 Small Business Now report

Fielded June 23–July 2, 2021 by WiseWorks among over 1,000 U.S. adults who had bought something online since March 1, 2021: 35% said an issue with a small business's website, or the inability to buy online, would discourage them from shopping with that business.

That question combines two different issues and does not measure businesses without websites, so it should not be restated as "35% won't buy from businesses without websites." The sample was recent online shoppers during pandemic conditions, and Constant Contact sells online marketing services. Source: Constant Contact Small Business Now 2021 announcement.

6. BrightLocal – 2025 consumer search behavior

BrightLocal surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults through SurveyMonkey, which it describes as a representative panel. 85% of consumers surveyed said contact information and opening hours are important when researching local businesses.

This supports keeping accurate, easy-to-find information, but not that a website is the only place to provide it. Google Business Profiles, Maps, directories and social media can carry the same details. BrightLocal sells local SEO tools. Source: BrightLocal consumer search behavior research.

What These Surveys Have in Common

Several of these studies point in the same general direction: some consumers say a website affects how credible a business seems or how easy it is to research. That is directional corroboration, not confirmation of any one study's exact percentage.

The surveys asked different questions, of different populations, in different years, from 2016 to 2025. That rules out averaging the numbers or drawing a trend line between them.

Why We Treat Marketing Surveys Carefully

Every study above was paid for by a company that sells websites, domains, marketing, or SEO, and so is this article. Sponsorship does not automatically make research wrong, but it means we look closely at:

• Who funded the study and who conducted it
• How respondents were recruited
• Who was included and who was left out
• The exact question wording and answer choices
• When the fieldwork happened
• Whether results were weighted to represent a wider population
• Whether the finding measures opinions, intentions, recalled experiences, or observed behavior

What the Numbers Cannot Tell Your Business

None of these studies establish:

• A universal percentage of customers lost without a website
• How many people went to a competitor instead
• How much revenue a missing website cost any business
• A guaranteed return from building a website
• Anything specific to El Paso, restaurants, contractors, or your business, since none of them measured those groups

There is also a gap between recalling and repeating. Someone who says they once skipped a business because it had no website has told you about one experience, not how often it happens, how important it was, or whether they would do it again.

Referrals, Reviews, and Google Maps Still Matter

Plenty of businesses do well through recommendations, repeat customers, foot traffic, reviews, Maps listings, and social media. Lacking a website does not make a business illegitimate or unable to grow. A website can complement those channels by giving people one place for fuller details, but it does not replace them.

Why Launch915 Still Recommends a Website

This section is our professional judgment, not a survey finding. A website gives a business:

• A dedicated place to explain services or display a menu
• Clear hours, address, service area, and contact options
• Room for genuine project photos, credentials, and customer feedback
• Pages that can be eligible to appear in relevant searches, with no guaranteed visibility
• One destination to link from listings, social profiles, ads, and printed materials

Scope and cost should fit the business. A simple, accurate site is often enough; not every business needs a large website, an online store, or an expensive SEO package. For practical details, see our page on small business websites in El Paso.

How to Measure Whether It Helps

If you have a website, or add one, track what it actually does:

• Calls started from tap-to-call links on the site
• Contact form submissions
• Booking or reservation clicks
• Qualified inquiries, meaning people who actually fit what you offer
• Where customers say they heard about you

A click is not a completed call, booking, or sale, so count those separately. And a simple before-and-after comparison cannot isolate the website's effect on its own: seasons, advertising, referrals, and other changes can move the numbers too.