Category Archives: Google and Your Business

Tips and tricks for managing your business with Google’s solutions

Home Service ads help more professionals get quality leads online

Home Service ads make it quick and easy to find local service professionals you can trust. When someone searches on Google for a local service professional like a plumber, electrician, or house cleaner, the Home Service unit may appear at the top of the results page. Being in the Home Service unit serves as a badge of trust for service professionals–only those meeting Google's strict qualifying criteria are featured there.



Each professional has a unique profile where they can showcase their specific services, service areas, and hours of operation. Customers have the ability to browse through these profiles, see reviews from previous customers, and contact selected professionals who meet their specific needs with a phone call or an online request.



Since its launch, Home Service ads has enabled a number of small service businesses to expand rapidly. Dan Travers, the owner of 1-800-ANYTYME Plumbing, Heating and Air, started using Home Services in order to reach new customers online. Dan has been impressed by the ability of Home Services to generate a high volume of quality leads for the business. “Our booking rates are up close to 70%,” he says. “I had to hire two more technicians to take on the additional volume. We are definitely seeing our return on investment."

To keep helping businesses like Dan’s, we’re continuing to expand Home Services ads. The product is now available in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Stockton, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. We’ve also made it available to other types of businesses, like painters, electricians, and towing providers.
We’re growing quickly, so to be among the first to hear our updates, or to apply for Home Services if we’re already in your area, please fill out this short form.



Posted by Nataliya Broitman, Head of Small Business Marketing

Fast mobile sites get more customers. Let’s help get yours up to speed.


How long does it take for your mobile site to load? Five seconds? Ten seconds? These few seconds could be the difference between keeping visitors on your site or losing them – because people aren’t willing to wait. In fact, most sites lose half their visitors while loading.1 And 46% of people say that the most frustrating thing about browsing on their phone is waiting for slow pages to load.2


With a little help, we believe every business can have a fast mobile site. That’s why we’re launching a new set of features to test your site’s speed on Test My Site, which will show you:

  • Your site’s mobile speed: 50% of people expect a site to load in less than two seconds.3 Find out how fast your site loads.
  • The number of visitors you may be losing: When it comes to mobile speed, every second matters – for each additional second it takes a mobile page to load, conversions can drop by up to 20%.4 Learn how many people may be leaving your site during the time it takes to load.
  • How you compare to the competition: See how your business stacks up against others in your industry.
  • How to make your site faster: We’ll email you a personalized assessment with specific recommendations on how to speed up your site.




Taking a few steps to improve your site speed can make a big difference. Yard Dog Fence Company, a Nashville fencing company that specializes in pet-friendly and child-safe fences, took the recommendations from Test My Site to significantly improve their mobile speed. They reduced the file sizes of the images on their site and now their mobile site loads in 5 seconds compared to 26 seconds. For Michael Casper, the owner of Yard Dog, it’s made a real difference: “90% of our business comes from our mobile site. Since we improved our mobile speed, we doubled our sales.”


Making changes like these can help you see a real impact on your business, too – get started now with Test My Site.





Posted by Yong Su Kim, VP Americas, Google Marketing Solutions



2. Google Webmaster Central Blog, #MobileMadness: a campaign to help you go mobile-friendly, 2015.
3. DoubleClick by Google, The need for mobile speed, 2016.

Make your business stand out on Google with Posts

With 82% of people turning to search engines to find local information,1 your Google listing is the ideal place to showcase what is unique about your business. Even when customers know exactly what they're looking for, they still want to get to know the business and see what it has to offer. That’s why Google My Business is bringing Posts to local businesses — an easy way to help attract new customers and build relationships with the customers you already have.




Posts appear on your Google business listing. Customers can tap to read the full post, and they can also share your post with their friends directly from Google.




Posting on Google gives you new ways to engage with your customers:



  • Share daily specials or current promotions that encourage new and existing customers to take advantage of your offers.
  • Promote events and tell customers about upcoming happenings at your location.
  • Showcase your top products and highlight new arrivals.
  • Choose one of the available options to connect with your customers directly from your Google listing: give them a one-click path to make a reservation, sign up for a newsletter, learn more about latest offers, or even buy a specific product from your website.


Seventy percent of people look at multiple businesses before making a final choice.2 With Posts, you can share timely, relevant updates right on Google Search and Maps to help your business stand out to potential customers. And by including custom calls-to-action directly on your business listing, you can choose how to connect with your customers.





“Posts definitely helped our business because a lot of people look us up through Google. When they do, they want to see the vibe of the place. Being able to post directly to Google allows them to see the reviews and get a feel for the shop all in one spot.” - Cut & Grind, London, UK
“As a small business, we don’t have a ton of resources. We post with the intention of engaging new and existing customers, informing them of new therapists and services we offer as we expand our business. The posts help us stand out in a unique way and allow us to differentiate ourselves from our competition.” - Just Mind, Austin, TX
“Posts are worth my time because with limited effort you can get something fresh that is reaching people's eyes. 1,100 people saw my last post. Getting information out to the customers is big for this kind of business, letting them know we have bikes or different sporting goods they may not be aware of.”- Play It Again Sports, Saint Paul, MN


If you’re a Google My Business user, you can start posting right now. Posts can be created on-the-go using the Google My Business Android and iOS apps or website.



If you’re not yet using Google My Business, sign up and get started today managing your business listing on Google. Once you’ve verified your business, you’ll be ready to start posting. To learn more, visit the Google My Business Help Center.




Posted by Rosa Wu, Product Manager, Google My Business




1 Google. Google Consumer Barometer. 2014/2015.

2 Google. Google Consumer Barometer. 2014/2015.

Four ways the web supports small business growth – new research from Deloitte

Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy, and they make our communities special. Businesses are revitalizing their towns, creating jobs, and shaping their communities—one customer and employee at a time.


We wanted to better understand the web’s role in helping small businesses grow in today’s economy, so we recently commissioned new research with Deloitte. The study found that the use of digital tools (such as websites, analytics, and online marketing) positively impacts small business growth in four key ways: reaching new customers, reaching new markets, growing faster, and creating jobs.


Reaching more customers


Digital tools help small businesses reach more customers at every stage of the purchase process. In fact, Deloitte’s research found that small businesses using advanced digital tools such as web analytics and online video, were almost 3x as likely to have increased customer interest, like calls and leads. They were also more than 3x as likely to have seen more sales inquiries, like foot traffic and orders, in the last year. Wichita Furniture in Wichita, KS has experienced these highly qualified leads first-hand. Their website traffic increased almost 50 percent in 2016, and they attribute the lion’s share of this growth to online advertising.


“...[Online advertising] brings quality customers through our doors—people who have seen our products and know what they’re looking for. As a result, we’ve seen a drastic increase in our sales per guest.”
- Jay Storey, President & Founder, Wichita Furniture




Reaching new markets

The web can open up new markets to small businesses, whether they’re across the country or across the world. Deloitte’s research found that digitally advanced small businesses are 3x as likely to have exported in the last year. That’s what Jim and Kelley Hobart discovered with their company Alpaca Direct, based in Hayden, ID. Digital resources like online video and cloud-based communication tools connect Alpaca Direct to customers across the globe.





"There are a lot of people all over the world who don't have a local yarn shop. We want to become their local yarn shop even though we're all the way here in Idaho."



- Kelley Hobart, Co-Owner, Alpaca Direct








Growing faster

Digitally advanced small businesses experienced revenue growth that was nearly 4x as high as the previous year. Businesses like Kaleidoscope Hair Products based in New Orleans, LA, are growing faster because of the web. In 2016, Kaleidoscope reached more than 43,000 customers and doubled their revenue from the previous year.



"We went from selling no products to having a full warehouse, exponential growth, and distributors all around the world."
- Jesseca Dupart, Owner and CEO, Kaleidoscope Hair Products





Creating jobs

Digitally advanced small businesses are job creators. In fact, they were nearly 3x as likely to have created new jobs in the last year. Dreamstyle Remodeling, based in Albuquerque, NM, is a job creator in their community. They have been growing 34 percent annually since 2013 and expect to reach $100 million in sales this year. Since developing their digital strategy, Dreamstyle has added 250 employees to keep pace with their growth. They plan on hiring another 500 people to support their expansion in two additional locations by 2020.



"We think [our 2020 plan] is possible... And the web and Google tools are going to be critical to that growth."
- Larry Chavez, CEO, Dreamstyle Remodeling




This is a glimpse into how small businesses are growing using digital tools. Read the full results from the Deloitte research study.


To learn how your business can get online and grow, check out new resources available through our Get Your Business Online program.





Posted by Soo Young Kim, Small Business Outreach






















Across the U.S., businesses are using the web to grow


When their 10-year-old daughter asked if she could raise alpacas on the family ranch, Jim and Kelley Hobart figured, “Why not?” They welcomed the animals onto their land and soon thereafter discovered the many benefits of alpaca wool. It was soft, durable, warm and eco-friendly—it had to be shared with the rest of the world. To the delight of their daughter and alpaca lovers everywhere, the Hobarts launched Alpaca Direct in 2005, producing quality yarns and apparel made from the unique fiber.



Jim and Kelley never imagined that a curious request from their youngest daughter would transform into a full-fledged business, or that a small storefront in Hayden, ID, would become a popular travel destination for knitting enthusiasts worldwide. Yet today Alpaca Direct is at the heart of a vibrant and global knitting community. With the help of the web, they’ve brought the warmth of alpaca wool to more than 100,000 customers across 30 countries. As Kelley says, “With Google tools, we can do that, and [customers] can be part of our community.”


In 2016, Google’s search and advertising tools helped provide $222 billion of economic activity for 1.5 million businesses, website publishers, and nonprofits across the U.S. Our 2016 Economic Impact Report explores that economic impact state-by-state and the local businesses that are helping to drive it.   



While working on a small leather goods line in New York City, Tanya Menendez and Matthew Burnett realized how difficult it was to find local manufacturers. In an effort to democratize that access, the two started Maker’s Row, an online marketplace that helps small businesses find American factories to make their products. They use AdWords to both establish factory partnerships and find new customers, and YouTube to, as Tanya describes, “put a face behind the products that are made in the United States.” In five years, the company has helped 120,000 small businesses source and create products in 11,000 American factories.






After serving as a U.S. Marine for six years, Nick Baucom founded a company, Two Marines Moving, in Alexandria, Virginia. His goal was to keep his fellow veterans gainfully employed, while giving local residents a moving option they could trust. Today, Two Marines Moving employs more than 100 veterans. They use Search and AdWords not only to find customers,  but also to recruit employees. Nick has opened a second location in Florida and hopes to create job opportunities for 500 veterans in the next five years, vowing that “veterans will always have a home here.”





Across the U.S., businesses large and small are using the web to find their customers, grow, and make an impact. We’re proud to be part of their stories.


Posted by Claire Mudd, Director, Americas Small Business Marketing

Let’s Make Work Better

In 1998, Google was a small start-up being run out of a garage. As we’ve grown over the past nearly 20 years, we’ve experimented a lot with our workplace culture and management practices. A few years ago we started sharing what we’ve learned — what works and what doesn’t — on our re:Work website.  


This National Small Business Week, we’ve compiled some of the re:Work guides that we think are most helpful for small business owners to help you do what you do even better:






  • Teams. In the modern workplace, most productive work happens in teams. Google did a deep dive into workplace culture and structure to find out what improves a team’s performance. Check it out: Understand team effectiveness


  • Setting Goals. Research has shown that when businesses commit to a goal, everyone’s performance can improve. At Google we set and track “Objectives and Key Results” (OKRs). Learn more: Set goals with OKRs.

For even more ideas, keep up with re:Work’s weekly blog, where we’ll be sharing new content focused on the needs of small businesses. You can also get inspirational content delivered to you by signing up for our monthly newsletter.


Posted by the Google re:Work Team


1National Federation of Independent Businesses, NFIB Small Business Problems and Priorities, 2016.

This National Small Business Week, Build Your Online Skills with Lessons from the Pros

The web is helping small businesses grow. As the place where people turn to learn, discover, find, and buy things, it’s connecting customers to small businesses and small businesses to customers. Being online can have a big impact–in fact, businesses that are online grow 40 percent faster and are twice as likely to create new jobs than those that remain offline.1


We see the power of the web working for American small businesses. Millions of small businesses are found on Google Search and Maps every single day across the nation.


With a little bit of elbow grease and the help of technology, we believe every business can grow online. So together with our partners, we’re continuing our mission to help make that happen. Through our Get Your Business Online initiative, we’re bringing together free resources and tools to help you this National Small Business Week and beyond.


Learn from the pros through bite-sized lessons
Build your online business and marketing skills with five-minute lessons from Primer, our free mobile app. To celebrate National Small Business Week, we’re happy to announce new lessons created by small business experts Anita Campbell, John Jantsch, Ramon Ray, and Rhonda Abrams. Each has created a special lesson from their decades of experience working with and coaching small businesses. We’re also excited to share new web-based lessons.


Get your business online
Be where your customers are. Get your free listing on Google Search and Maps.  Show pictures of your business, list your hours, and add your phone number so customers can just click to call you or get directions. Businesses with complete listings are considered twice as reputable.2 Use this handy tool to get started.


Make sure your website works on mobile
Did you know that more than half of all Google searches happen on mobile phones? Mobile shoppers want quick results–53 percent say they’ll wait no more than three seconds before abandoning a site.3 How fast does your website load? Use the free Test My Site tool to see how well your site works on mobile. We’ll email you a personalized assessment with specific recommendations on how to make it better.


Want even more?
During National Small Business Week (and throughout the year), Google and our partners are hosting in-person workshops to help you grow your business online. Find a workshop near you.


Small businesses are the heart of our communities. Thank you for making the places we call home, home.


Happy National Small Business Week.


Posted by Soo Young Kim, Head of Marketing, Get Your Business Online   



2 Google/Oxera, The Benefits of Complete Business Listings, December 2014.

3 Google Data, Global, n=3,700 aggregated, anonymized Google Analytics data from a sample of mWeb sites opted into sharing benchmark data, March 2016. Think With Google.

Get Your Business Online with a Workshop Near You During National Small Business Week

Blog Post NSBW edited GYBO workshop image (1).png


Next week is National Small Business Week, and our partners across the country are hosting free workshops in their communities. You’re invited to join us.



Through these workshops you can learn how to grow online and reach more customers. Be sure to check google.com/smallbusinessweek when the celebration begins on April 30 for more free resources and tools.  





Posted by Emily Harris, Program Manager, Get Your Business Online









Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs

Every new woman entrepreneur who takes the leap to start her own business or takes the helm of a business is creating a more diverse and inclusive economy.1 In the U.S., women have been starting businesses at a rate that’s 1.5 times higher than men.2 That’s added up to some big numbers: by 2015, 46% of the privately held companies were owned or co-owned by women.3 Women-owned businesses now employ over 7.9 million workers in the U.S.4




To celebrate women entrepreneurs this International Women’s Day, we chatted with some women entrepreneurs who’ve inspired us with their boldness. Here are some highlights.


What was the biggest hurdle you faced when starting your business? How did you overcome it?

“The biggest hurdle when starting a business [was] not knowing what I didn't know! Running a business is totally different...and completely different skills are required. I learned a lot by reading business and legal books, and making tons of mistakes.” — Limor Fried, Founder & Lead Engineer of Adafruit


“I probably should have started a business five years before I did. However, I let my fears hold me back from going after what I wanted. One day I just decided to go for it. I knew if I didn't, I would regret not starting this business for the rest of my life.” — Kathryn Jackson, Founder of Protect Your Pumps  


“I think our biggest hurdle was handling growth. Once we got too big to do everything ourselves, we had to hire the right people to represent us and keep our customers happy, while preserving the culture of our small family business.” — Jenny Doan, Founder of Missouri Star Quilt Co.  


What’s the best piece of advice you received when starting your business?

“Make sure you have your happiest, most cheerful people working in the front of your store. Those are the people your customers will remember.” — Jenny Doan (Read more from Jenny here.)


“Invest in protecting your business. Once you're on your way, invest in a proper accountant, legal counsel, continuing education and training, copyrights and trademarks and other legal protections, website design, R&D, etc." — Limor Fried (Read more from Limor here.)


“Get started. Take that initial step, even if it is a small one. Don't let let the big picture overwhelm you so much that you don't even take the first step.”  — Kathryn Jackson (Read more from Kathryn here.)



We hope Jenny, Kathryn, and Limor's voices and experiences will inspire budding women entrepreneurs everywhere. #IWD2017 #BeBoldforChange


1 World Economic Forum "The Importance of a Diverse Workforce." May 2015.
2 Calhoun, Lisa. "30 Surprising Facts About Female Founders." 06 July 2015.
3 Calhoun, Lisa. "30 Surprising Facts About Female Founders." 06 July 2015.
4 American Express Open. "The State of Women-Owned Businesses in the U.S. 2015." May 2015.


Updating Your Holiday Hours on Google? Easy as Pumpkin Pie.

Heather Mohorn, owner of Momo’s Tree House, adds special hours on Google to let last-minute shoppers know when her business is open. “The holiday hours feature makes it easy to communicate [changes in hours] to customers,” she says. “It reduces the number of phone calls we receive to ask whether we’re open, which is nice when we’re busy wrapping those last-minute gifts on Christmas Eve.”

With Google My Business, you can update your business info on Google for free to ensure that your phone number, address, and hours of operation are correct so customers can find you this season (and beyond).

To help you make the most of the season, we put together a holiday workshop filled with tips for using the web to connect with shoppers. Preview the section on updating your holiday hours above, or watch the entire workshop at gybo.com/livestream.

For a list of step-by-step instructions on how to update your hours on Google My Business, visit our help center

We hope this is one thing you can easily check off your holiday to-do list.

Cheers,
Emily Harris, on behalf of the Let’s Put Our Cities on the Map team