SitelessThe short answer: About 17% of US small businesses have no website as of 2025, according to Clutch's latest survey — down from 27% in 2022. That still works out to more than 6 million American businesses with no website at all. And among the businesses that do lack one, the vast majority say they plan to get one. For freelance web designers and agencies, that's the clearest client pipeline you'll find.
How many small businesses don't have a website?
The headline number has been shrinking for a decade, but it refuses to hit zero:
| Year | % of US small businesses without a website | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 36% | Clutch |
| 2022 | 27% | Top Design Firms |
| 2025 | 17% | Clutch |
| 2026 | ~17–28% (estimates vary by methodology) | Clutch / WebFX / Zippia |
The most current figure comes from Clutch's 2025 survey: 83% of small businesses now have a website, leaving 17% offline (BusinessWire, Aug 2025). Other 2026 compilations land a little higher — WebFX puts the no-website share at 28%, and Zippia at 29% (WebFX, Zippia). The range reflects different survey methods and samples, but the picture is consistent: somewhere between 1 in 6 and 1 in 4 small businesses still has no website.
What that means in absolute numbers
The SBA counted 36.2 million small businesses in the US in 2025 (Review42, citing SBA Office of Advocacy). Even at the conservative 17% figure, that's over 6 million businesses without a website in the United States alone. Take the higher estimates and you're looking at 9–10 million.
This is not a shrinking-into-irrelevance problem. Six million prospects is more than any freelancer or agency could ever contact.
Why don't these businesses have websites?
It's rarely about cost alone. Clutch's 2025 survey found the holdouts are mostly held back by misconceptions, not money:
- Over a third believe a website simply isn't relevant to their business, and rely on social media or marketplaces instead.
- 28% of businesses without a website have no online presence at all — no site, no listings strategy, nothing.
Earlier surveys add texture. Clutch's 2017 survey found 31% of offline businesses used social media profiles instead of a website, and 23% cited lack of industry relevance (CPA Practice Advisor). Zippia's 2026 compilation reports that 26% cite cost concerns, 15% say they lack the technical skills, and 35% believe they're too small to need one (Zippia).
Why this matters for you as a web designer: these objections are exactly what a good pitch answers. "Too small" and "not relevant" are education problems — the moment a plumber sees a competitor's site booking jobs while he's invisible, the objection evaporates. You're not convincing someone to want something exotic. You're showing them a gap they already feel.
Which industries have the most website-free businesses?
Not all niches are equal. Wix analyzed Yell.com listings for London-based businesses in July 2024 and found the sectors with the highest share of companies lacking a website:
- Architectural services — 34.6%
- Aircraft services — 33.3%
- Recycling — 30.7%
- Property development — 30.1%
- Locksmiths — 29.6%
- Internet and broadband providers — 27.2%
- Writers — 26.3%
- Design and development engineers — 25%
Trades, local services, and specialist B2B firms dominate the list — precisely the businesses that live on phone calls and word of mouth, and precisely the ones that benefit most from a simple, credible site. If you're picking a niche as a freelancer, start here.
How many potential clients is that, really?
Do the conservative math with us:
- 36.2 million US small businesses (SBA, 2025)
- × 17% without a website (Clutch, 2025)
- = ~6.2 million US businesses with no website
Now add the buying intent. Top Design Firms' 2022 survey found that 86–87% of small businesses without a website planned to invest in one in the near future (PRNewswire, May 2022). Even if that number has softened since, it tells you the no-website segment isn't hostile to websites — it's mostly unreached.
Six million prospects, most of whom would buy if someone competent showed up with a clear offer. That's the entire case for prospecting by website status.
Why businesses without websites are your best prospects
A business with no website isn't just a lead — it's a lead with the pitch half-written:
- Consumers expect to find them online. Around 97–98% of consumers research businesses online before visiting, and 46% of Google searches have local intent. Google has reported that 76% of nearby smartphone searches lead to a visit within a day (DiscoverAtlas.City, citing Google and review-industry sources). A business with reviews but no website is capturing demand it can't convert.
- Reviews prove the demand is real. 97% of consumers read reviews when evaluating local businesses (BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, via SciTech-Today). A business with 40 reviews and no website has customers trying to find it — and nowhere to land.
- There's no incumbent to displace. You're not asking them to fire their agency or rebuild a site they paid for. You're offering them their first one.
The filter is objective, the need is visible, and the prospect usually already wants what you're selling. That's rare in outbound sales.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of small businesses don't have a website in 2026? Between 17% and 29%, depending on the survey. Clutch's most recent (2025) survey puts it at 17%; 2026 compilations from WebFX and Zippia estimate 28–29%.
Is the number going up or down? Down, steadily. It was 36% in 2018, 27% in 2022, and 17% in 2025 (Clutch). But with 36.2 million US small businesses, even a shrinking percentage is still millions of prospects.
What percentage of businesses have no online presence at all? 28% of businesses without a website have no online presence whatsoever — no site and no listings strategy (Clutch, 2025).
Why don't small businesses have websites? The top reasons are belief that a website isn't relevant to their industry, reliance on social media instead, perceived cost, and lack of technical skills.
Which businesses are most likely to need a website? Trades and local services: architects, locksmiths, property developers, and similar firms top the website-free rankings (Wix, 2024).
How can I find small businesses without websites? Pick a city and a business category, then check each listing's website status — manually on Google Maps, or with a prospecting tool. Siteless does this from live Google Places data and includes each business's review count, so you can prioritize the ones with real demand.
Find them yourself
Statistics are only useful if you act on them. Run 5 free searches on Siteless — pick your city and a category like plumbers or dentists, and see exactly which local businesses have no website, with their phone numbers and review counts attached. No credit card required.
Sources
- Clutch 2025 Small Business Website Survey, via BusinessWire (Aug 2025)
- Top Design Firms 2022 Web Design Survey, via PRNewswire (May 2022)
- Clutch 2017 Small Business Survey, via CPA Practice Advisor (Mar 2017)
- Zippia, "Small Business Website Statistics" (2026)
- WebFX, "Website Statistics" (2026)
- Wix blog research, Yell.com analysis (Jul 2024)
- SBA Office of Advocacy 2025 small business counts, via Review42
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, via SciTech-Today
- Google local search behavior data, via DiscoverAtlas.City