What a website is actually worth

Consumers trust
businesses with websites.
Here's the data.

What do consumers really think? See how a website directly impacts consumer confidence and purchasing decisions. These statistics reveal the trust and sales gap between businesses with websites vs those without.

  1. $177 versus $36

    That's what people say they're comfortable spending with a business through its own website, versus one with just a social media storefront. A third refuse to spend anything through social. Through a website, only 6%.

    Consumers are willing to spend more with a company that has a website versus one that doesn't.

    DreamHost, 2026 Local Business Trust Index - 1,201 US adults, November 2025

  2. 69%, and 72% under 25

    Say a business needs a website before they'll treat it as credible. The figure is higher among under-25s, not lower.

    The customers you would assume live entirely on social are the ones who trust it least.

    DreamHost, 2026 Local Business Trust Index - 1,201 US adults, November 2025

  3. 70%

    Are more likely to do business with a company that has a website.

    DreamHost, 2026 Local Business Trust Index - 1,201 US adults, November 2025

  4. 66%

    Are more likely to hire a contractor who has a website.

    Trades are the clearest case of all: an unfamiliar name, a stranger you are about to let into your house, and one place to check whether they are real.

    DreamHost, 2026 Local Business Trust Index - 1,201 US adults, November 2025

  5. 58%

    Go looking for the business's website to check it out, after already finding it somewhere else.

    Being found is not the finish line. They come looking for your site to decide whether you are real.

    DreamHost, 2026 Local Business Trust Index - 1,201 US adults, November 2025

  6. 67%

    Start looking for a local business on Google.

    Not on social. The search starts somewhere you do not control, and it ends wherever you can be found.

    DreamHost, 2026 Local Business Trust Index - 1,201 US adults, November 2025

  7. 60%

    Say outdated websites negatively affect business perception.

    A site nobody has touched in years works against you. It reads like the business is irrelevant or closed.

    DreamHost, 2026 Local Business Trust Index - 1,201 US adults, November 2025

  8. 39%

    Decided against visiting or buying from a business because it had no website. Among under-45s it is 45%.

    Every one of them was already interested. They went looking, found nothing, and went somewhere else. That is where you lose them, and you never hear about it.

    DreamHost, 2026 Local Business Trust Index - 1,201 US adults, November 2025

  9. 84%

    Say a business with a website is more credible than one with only a social media page.

    Verisign - 787 US consumers and 456 small businesses

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