Over 90% of small businesses plan to invest in website upgrades and maintenance this year, according to The Manifest's survey of 351 small business owners and managers.

Small businesses say investing in high quality content is the top priority for their websites in 2018. Nearly a quarter (22%) of small businesses intend to publish more content on their website such as blog posts, expert white papers, and infographics.

Video content stands out as the go-to content small businesses plan to invest in, according to small business owners who The Manifest interviewed for this report.

"Video has tripled our conversion rates," said Mark Aselstine, founder of Uncorked Ventures, a San Francisco-based wine club. "Half of the people who watch the entire two-minute video will order something."

In addition to investing in high quality content, nearly 1 in 5 small businesses (17%) plan to improve website security.

As experts anticipate growing threats to online security, small businesses will invest more in security features such as HTTPS certificates. Small businesses that do not comply with changing security standards risk penalties from top web browsers including Google Chrome.

Finally, improving user experience is a priority for 16% of small businesses.

Kelly Franznick is co-founder and chief experience officer at Blink, a Seattle-based UX agency. He points out that consumers have become accustomed to a seamless website experience and bring those expectations to small business websites as well.

"Consumers are smart now," said Franznick. "They've been through systems that have great experiences and they know that it doesn't have to be hard."

Small web design changes such as altering the placement of calls to action have the potential to drive dramatic spikes in conversions.

To achieve these website improvements, more than half (52%) of small businesses primarily rely on in-house staff. Meanwhile, more than one-third (36%) build and maintain their websites using DIY website builder software such as Squarespace.

The Manifest's 2018 Small Business Survey included 351 small business owners. The  businesses surveyed have between 1 and 500 employees, and 55% of the businesses indicated they have 10 or fewer employees. More than half (57%) reported annual revenue of less than $1 million.