Tag Archives: small business

Making Google My Business work for agency and platform partners

Looking for something nearby—a hair salon, a pharmacy, a car dealership—is one of the most common searches we do. In fact, more than one-third of all mobile searches are related to location. With people searching for businesses near them every second, we’re committed to helping local businesses put their best foot forward in these moments with Google My Business. This year, we’ve introduced more ways for businesses to stand out on Google and connect with their customers. By sharing Posts, activating Messaging, or adding a Booking button to your Google listing, local businesses can turn leads into customers.


We always strive to make our products simple and intuitive for small businesses, but many businesses are strapped for time and rely on third-party agencies and platforms to help manage their online presence. Today, at the Local Search Association conference in Chicago, IL, we're announcing a few improvements aimed at making it easier for agencies and partners to manage Google listings with Google My Business—including updates to the Google My Business API, a new Google My Business agency dashboard, and the launch of a Partners program.  


In the last couple of years, we’ve invested in the Google My Business API, introducing features like Reviews, Menus, Insights and Posts to make it possible for agencies and platform partners to easily maintain and update Google listings for their end customers. With our latest API update, we’re adding more features like offer posts and merchant description so partners can continue to offer Google My Business’ latest features to their customers efficiently and at scale.


And for the first time, agencies will be able to sign up and register for a Google My Business account. Registered agencies will get access to a brand new agency dashboard designed with our partners needs in mind. Key benefits include:


  • Single Organization Accounts on Google My Business to manage all locations—no longer limited to 100 locations.
  • User Groups to manage internal teams and control access to locations.
  • Improved search functionality enabling users to efficiently search for locations within an account and across location groups.
  • Easier workflows to send and receive invitations to manage listings.
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And to further support the agencies and platform partners who help ensure the success of millions of Google listings, this month we’re launching the Google My Business Partners program. Trusted partners will be eligible for early access to new Google My Business features, a partner manager, and the potential to be featured on the Google My Business website.


Sign up to be the first to know when our new solutions for agencies and platform partners officially launch.

Introducing .app, a more secure home for apps on the web

Posted By Ben Fried, VP, CIO, & Chief Domains Enthusiast

Today we're announcing .app, the newest top-level domain (TLD) from Google Registry.

A TLD is the last part of a domain name, like .com in “www.google.com” or .google in “blog.google”. We created the .app TLD specifically for apps and app developers, with added security to help you showcase your apps to the world.

Even if you spend your days working in the world of mobile apps, you can still benefit from a home on the web. With a memorable .app domain name, it's easy for people to find and learn more about your app. You can use your new domain as a landing page to share trustworthy download links, keep users up to date, and deep link to in-app content.

A key benefit of the .app domain is that security is built in—for you and your users. The big difference is that HTTPS is required to connect to all .app websites, helping protect against ad malware and tracking injection by ISPs, in addition to safeguarding against spying on open WiFi networks. Because .app will be the first TLD with enforced security made available for general registration, it's helping move the web to an HTTPS-everywhere future in a big way.

Starting today at 9:00am PDT and through May 7, .app domains are available to register as part of our Early Access Program, where, for an additional fee, you can secure your desired domains ahead of general availability. And then beginning on May 8, .app domains will be available to the general public through your registrar of choice.

Just visit get.app to see who's already on .app and choose a registrar partner to begin registering your domain. We look forward to seeing where your new .app domain takes you!

Introducing .app, a more secure home for apps on the web

Today we’re announcing .app, the newest top-level domain (TLD) from Google Registry.

A TLD is the last part of a domain name, like .com in “www.google.com” or .google in “blog.google” (the site you’re on right now). We created the .app TLD specifically for apps and app developers, with added security to help you showcase your apps to the world.

Even if you spend your days working in the world of mobile apps, you can still benefit from a home on the web. With a memorable .app domain name, it’s easy for people to find and learn more about your app. You can use your new domain as a landing page to share trustworthy download links, keep users up to date, and deep link to in-app content.

A key benefit of the .app domain is that security is built in—for you and your users. The big difference is that HTTPS is required to connect to all .app websites, helping protect against ad malware and tracking injection by ISPs, in addition to safeguarding against spying on open WiFi networks. Because .app will be the first TLD with enforced security made available for general registration, it’s helping move the web to an HTTPS-everywhere future in a big way.

Starting today at 9:00am PDT and through May 7, .app domains are available to register as part of our Early Access Program, where, for an additional fee, you can secure your desired domains ahead of general availability. And then beginning on May 8, .app domains will be available to the general public through your registrar of choice.

Just visit get.app to see who’s already on .app and choose a registrar partner to begin registering your domain. We look forward to seeing where your new .app domain takes you!

A #SmallThanks makes a big difference this National Small Business Week

Love a local spot? Make it known this National Small Business Week—post a review or photo to their Google listing, or thank them on social media with the hashtag #SmallThanks. A small shout-out can mean a lot for a local business.  

One of my latest favorites is ABLE, a hip boutique in Nashville, TN that sells bags, shoes and jewelry handcrafted by women who have often overcome extraordinary circumstances to become entrepreneurs. I just gave ABLE a Small Thanks review on their Google listing for all they do (and for the cute earrings I just bought from them!).

During National Small Business Week, YouTube creators across the country are also sharing the places they love—from skate shops to bookmobiles and everything in between.

#SmallThanks for National Small Business Week

If you own a small business, check out the #SmallThanks Hub for free, customized marketing materials to turn your reviews into ready-to-use social posts, stickers, posters, and more. Reviews from your fans are like “digital thank you notes” and are one of the first things people notice about your business online, so start sharing your customers’ love with #SmallThanks today.

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Examples of marketing materials on the #SmallThanks Hub 


For more tips on how to connect with local customers online, tune into our National Small Business Week livestream workshop from 9:00-10:00 a.m. PT on Wednesday, May 2. Register or find a partner-hosted workshop near you at google.com/smallbusinessweek. You can also find additional resources in our Grow with Google hub.


Happy National Small Business Week! Don’t forget to show your favorite local spot some love this week with a #SmallThanks—a small way to give them a big thank you.


YouTube Director onsite helps small businesses make video ads

Every small business owner has a story to tell—whether it's how they started out, why their product or service is unique, or why customers buy from them. Video ads are an authentic and engaging way to reach your customers and show them what makes your business unique through the power of sight, sound, and motion.

For business owners, creating a video ad to tell your story can be time-consuming, expensive, and challenging. Starting today,YouTube Director onsite is available in over 170 cities across the U.S. to help every business leverage YouTube's power and reach—over one billion users, which is almost one-third of all people on the internet.

We created YouTube Director onsite to shorten the time and cost it takes for businesses to advertise on YouTube. When you commit to spending at least $350 advertising on YouTube through Google AdWords, YouTube Director onsite will set you up with an expert to film and edit a 30-second professional YouTube video. This video service—which typically runs anywhere from about $1,000 to $5,000—is free. You’ll only pay to promote your video ad on YouTube.

how it works

Since we first launched YouTube Director onsite, we’ve produced many video ads for small businesses, saving each business countless hours of finding equipment, writing a script, and filming and editing the video. Aaron Cheney, the Marketing Director of Warmoth Guitar Products, started using YouTube Director onsite to reach new customers online. The video ad was a success with their target audience of guitar players on YouTube looking to repair or build a custom guitar. Aaron has seen a 13x return on ad spend and 130 percent increase in revenue from the video ad.


By running video ads on YouTube, you’ll reach potential customers when they watch or search for videos—and you’ll only pay when they engage with your video. With TrueView for action, our new direct response video ad format announced last week, you’ll be able to customize a call-to-action to drive the outcome that’s most important to your business, like leads or referrals.


Here’s how YouTube Director onsite works:

  1. Plan.Tell your filmmaker about your business—they’ll help you write a script and plan your video.

  2. Shoot.Your filmmaker will come to you to shoot your video. After, they'll edit the film and deliver the final cut in approximately 7-10 days.

  3. Advertise.A Google advertising expert will help you set up your video ad so you can reach the right customers for your business.

We’re passionate about making video advertising possible for every business and helping businesses like Warmoth Guitar Products reach more customers. Be one of the first to try YouTube Director onsite in your city by scheduling a shoot with your filmmaker today.

Empowering women-led businesses on the Map and around the world

This year, celebrate International Women’s Day by supporting a women-led business. Starting this week, businesses can now identify as owned, led, or founded by women, by enabling the women-led attribute from their Google My Business dashboard. Attributes appear on a business’s Google listing on Maps and Search and give customers more details like "Has Wi-Fi" and "Outdoor seating” to help them decide where to go.  

attribute

Progetto Quid: Finding sanctuary in an ethical fashion

After freeing herself from an abusive relationship, Anna Fiscale was determined to help women in Verona, Italy overcome adversity through financial independence. Underneath her city’s rich history and culture, she saw a wide gender pay and employment gap holding them back. To solve this problem, she started Progetto Quid, which repurposes surplus material discarded by local textile factories into eco-friendly clothing. Now in four locations across Italy, Progetto Quid employs more than 85 employees, 80 percent of whom are women, in Verona and beyond.
AdWords Stories: Progetto Quid

Reaching Out: The art of creating a community for everyone

Mai Thi Kim Quyen and her husband, Binh, created Reaching Out Teahouse in Hội An, Vietnam after a medical accident left Binh partially paralyzed and wheelchair-bound. Quyen saw a great need in her community to provide job opportunities and a support network for others living with physical limitations. Today Reaching Out provides employment for more than 70 people in Hội An and has become a flourishing local establishment under Quyen’s leadership.
Google My Business Stories: Reaching Out Teahouse

Yogolandia Yogurt & Botana Bar: Sweetening a community and growing a family-run business   

Eve Rodriguez Montoya grew up watching her father build a chain of candy shops in the vibrant Chicago neighborhood of Little Village. She wanted to celebrate both her Mexican and American heritage by bringing something new to the business. Since there were no frozen yogurt shops in Little Village, she saw an opportunity to combine classic Mexican candies with frozen yogurt in flavors like horchata and churro. She opened Yogolandia Yogurt & Botana Bar and brought her idea to life. Para aprender más sobre Eve y su negocio, haz clic aquí.
Google My Business Stories: Yogolandia Yogurt & Botana Bar

Anna, Quyen, and Eve’s stories inspire us to keep building products that work for everybody. They’re also examples of what female entrepreneurs are capable of when given access to the right tools and trainings. With this in mind, we’ll continue to grow Google’s Womenwill initiative, which is dedicated to creating economic opportunity for women by helping them with digital skills, whether that’s website creation, social media or putting a business on the map. Womenwill trainings are happening in more than 17 countries and territories this month, and we hope to reach more future business owners like Anna, Quyen and Eve.


Happy International Women’s Day!

Google Domains: an easy way to get online

In 2015, we launched Google Domains to help businesses find and buy relevant domains. Here are a few ways we’re helping these companies build, manage and expand their online presence, including a number of key features we recently introduced.

Increased domain name options

Last year, we continued to serve customers by expanding our domain name offerings. Our more than 1.8 million domain registrations now range from traditional, well-known endings like .com, .org, and .net to many newly-released endings including .business, .online, and .design.

Expanded international coverage

At launch, Google Domains was available primarily in the United States. As of today, we are available in 14 countries in addition to the U.S. including: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom and Vietnam.


One-click integration with G Suite

We recently announced one-click integration with G Suite, allowing businesses to quickly create professional branded email addresses and simultaneously access G Suite’s range of intelligent productivity tools like Docs, Calendar, Google Drive and Hangouts Meet. Benefits also include 30 GB of file storage, and 24/7 customer support. We also introduced simpler domain management settings, allowing for access to be shared among multiple authorized users.


Improved privacy and security

We know privacy is valuable for our users, so, where permitted, we offer WHOIS privacy as the free, default option for new domain registrations. This helps protect against spam and other forms of abuse because personal information is not available publicly.


Additionally, we've invested in making advanced security features easy and accessible to small businesses. For example, all domain registrations are configured with Cloud DNS by default, ensuring the domain name can be accessed quickly by users around the world. DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) is another feature that protects domains from attacks that target users or personal information, and can be enabled for free in just one click.


Going forward, we plan to roll out newer, faster search features and integrate with other Google products to make it easier to access the Google services you know and love.


Get started today at Google Domains, and if you have any questions or feedback, please let us know!


Danish business embraces digital to create jobs and save lives

During their years in the armed forces, Mark Nilsson and Anders Kjærsgaard used their first response training to save lives. When they left the service, they wanted to transfer those skills to everyday civilian life. So they set up First-8, a company that delivers first aid training to businesses and individuals, with ex-army personnel as instructors.


They knew that the internet was a great way to reach customers, but they also knew they were missing basic skills to market online so they decided to sign up for Google Succes online, a program that taught them how to improve SEO (search engine optimization), use Google AdWords to create online ads, and measure their ad performance with Google Analytics.

After joining the program in 2016, Mark and Andrews have increased the number of people trained from 360 to 3,200. They’ve also grown from two to 30 staff, recruiting many ex-army people, and moved the business from their living rooms to two new offices and three warehouses.
First-8: creating job opportunities and saving lives

First-8: creating job opportunities and saving lives

First-8 is just one example of how Google is helping businesses succeed with digital. Since launching Succes Online in partnership with Dansk Industri, Dansk Erhverv, Erhvervsstyrelsen, FDIH, ITB, Ivækst and PwC og ASE three years ago, we’ve trained more than 30,000 people across 73 Danish municipalities, with 39 percent of small businesses reporting improved business results, revenues or new customers as a result of the training. In Northern Europe alone, the number of jobs requiring digital skills will double in the next 15 years, with an additional 200,000 jobs created. We want to play our part by equipping people and businesses like First-8 with the skills they need to grow their business or career, and take advantage of these new opportunities.


“Succes Online has given us the resources and opportunities we needed to develop our business and take it in a new direction,” says Mark. “We never imagined that our experience in the army would lead to us building a business that can help save people’s lives.”

Improve customer calls with notifications from AdWords Express

Last year AdWords Express launched goals to help your ads drive better results, like more in-store visits or calls. If you choose calls as your goal, we want to make sure you get the most out of every call.

Today we’re introducing call notifications, an easy way to give feedback on the calls you get through AdWords Express and to track any missed calls.

Get more relevant calls when you give feedback

When you finish a phone call with a customer who found your ad on Google, you’ll get a notification to give feedback on the call’s relevance. This will help AdWords Express better target your ads to the right customers.

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Giving feedback is quick and easy. Simply click to tell us if the call was relevant to you.

Connect with every customer who calls your business

Business owners and employees are busy and often can’t pick up the phone. In fact, we see that advertisers miss almost one in five calls they get from their AdWords Express ads. Now, if a potential customer calls while you’re working on something else, you’ll get you’ll get a push notification that allows you to call right back.

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You can call your potential customer back right from the notification screen.

Set up call notifications with the AdWords Express app

To receive call notifications, you need the AdWords Express mobile app. Once you have the app on your mobile device, simply go into Settings and opt-in for Account updates. You’ll instantly start receiving helpful alerts about the calls you get from your ads.

If you don’t have the AdWords Express mobile app, you can get it on Android or iOS.

Wisconsin Cheese Mart makes a comeback—online and on the block

In 2003, Wisconsin Cheese Mart was up for sale and in danger of closing. When Ken McNulty, an Air Force veteran and native Wisconsinite, heard the news, he and his family decided to take a big risk. They purchased the small shop, which has been a Milwaukee cornerstone since 1938, and set out to revitalize it.


At the time, only a fraction of sales were online. After investing in their online presence, Wisconsin Cheese Mart now generates over 75 percent of its business through online sales and provides cheese lovers across the United States with the largest selection of Wisconsin cheese in the world.


Watch the video above to learn more about how Wisconsin Cheese Mart collaborates with local farmers and factories, and connects with customers on the web.