The company's July 2012 Business Monitor survey of 1004 SME operators found the proportion with a business website rose slightly, from 36 per cent in March 2012 to 38 per cent.

But it revealed 24 per cent of SMEs used search engines to promote their business, down from 31 per cent in March 2012.

The usage of social media activity also dwindled to 15 per cent from 18 per cent, along with networking on LinkedIn (13 per cent from 19 per cent).

"The decline in popularity of online business activities was completely unexpected, particularly that of online marketing and social media. Many of these tools, such as a basic LinkedIn page, are free and can be used to raise the profile of a business and to communicate with customers," MYOB CEO, Tim Reed, said.

More business operators are experiencing revenue falls than experiencing rises, and the majority lack confidence in a short term economic recovery, he said..