Web professionals are key stakeholders in helping unlock the digital ambition of SMBs in India.

 With increasing digital influence on an estimated 75 million SMBs, this opportunity is as large as USD 750 million over the next 3 years, revealed a study by Endurance International Group (EIG) and Zinnov Consulting titled “The Web Pro Ecosystem: The Catalysts to Unlocking India’s Digital Dividend”.

In this report, Zinnov Consulting estimates digital presence opportunity for India’s web professionals (Web Pros) to be USD 650-750 Mn. 

The report provides a comprehensive overview of the current digital transformation underway amongst small & micro businesses and the enormous opportunities it opens up for web professionals. Web professionals collectively include web designers, developers, digital agencies, IT service providers and any business that helps other businesses get an online presence. The report estimates about 100,000 web professionals in India.

India is primarily a DIFM (do-it-for-me) market and web professionals play a key role in the digital enablement of small and micro businesses (SMBs), states the report. The report maps the services that web professionals currently offer across four stages of SMB maturity, spanning from -

●     creation of online presence through core services such as website builders, domain name & hosting, SSL and email hosting,

●     services that help in digital discovery through marketing oriented attached services like SEO (Search Engine Optimization)/SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and social media marketing,

●     reselling third party apps to improve productivity like office collaboration tools,

●     and custom built web and mobile apps to help SMBs grow

The adoption and market opportunity for web and mobile applications, transaction ready or dynamic websites, and digital marketing will scale as SMBs in India move up the digital maturity curve and take ownership of their digital presence. With increasing digital influence on an estimated 75 million SMBs, this opportunity is as large as USD 750 million over the next 3 years.

Talking about the report, Pari Natarajan, Chief Executive Officer, Zinnov said, “Today, there are only 5 million domain names registered in India and 55 percent or 2.7 million domains are currently attached to a website. There are 1.2 million unique websites in India, out of which less than 100,000 are transaction ready websites and dominantly accept cash for their services. 12% websites in India are SSL enabled and nearly 50,000 websites have chatbots. The increasing trend in internet penetration, online commerce and cyber security will grow the adoption of services for online presence, digital discovery and productivity applications by SMBs in India”.

As far as online presence is concerned, WordPress is the most preferred platform to build websites by web professionals globally*. Over 75 percent of websites built using a Content Management System (CMS) in India use WordPress. Earlier this week, Bluehost, an Endurance company announced its expansion into India with a full suite of WordPress optimized products, 24/7 local consultative sales and support, local currency, and a new website.

“WordPress is a powerful CMS platform that is favoured by many web professionals and small businesses to build a digital presence. Bluehost’s seamless WordPress installations and tools provide web professionals and small business owners a flexible and secure platform to establish digital presence,” said Manish Dalal, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Endurance APAC.

In addition to online presence, other areas that web professionals should focus on is digital marketing, and web and mobile application development. The report estimates that the opportunity for web professionals in mobile and web applications is the most significant. With 12 billion app downloads, India ranks second in mobile app downloads. 

Web professionals are key stakeholders in helping unlock the digital ambition of SMBs in India. The report offers them key opportunities to focus on and recommendations to succeed such as marketing to acquire new customers, helping customers see the impact on their business, and investing in upskilling and training. 

“We are laser focused on delivering and supporting the business needs of web professionals because it empowers them to help small businesses come online. Customers often need assistance during their online journey which is where web professionals play a critical role. Our suite of products is perfect for such a mission. Endurance, through its family of brands like Bluehost, HostGator, Reseller Club and BigRock, provides a platform for web professionals to get their customers online easily and help grow their business,” said Manish Dalal, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Endurance APAC.