Google helps you find just about anything you might need. Hungry? Find the restaurant closest to you. Want to shop? Browse the latest sales. Wondering what your boss meant by the acronym she used? Research the possible meanings.
No matter what you are looking for, this internet giant has got you covered, even in the business world. If you own a small business, you can use Google to attract customers and get ahead of your competition.
From calendars and email to Google+ and maps, Google can help businesses organize efficiently and establish an online presence. Here’s how these solutions can help your business and how you can get started.
Get your business online
Google’s Get Your Business Online (GYBO) project aims to help small businesses create and establish their online presence. Google has partnered with thousands of cities and local organizations to help businesses build their website, stay on top of Google search results, and be seen by customers. Resources include free custom websites, a step-by-step guide to using Google My Business, diagnostic tools to measure your website’s performance, training programs, and business workshops.
To start: Sign up at gybo.com
Google My Business
For small businesses, competition lurks around every corner. Google My Business helps you stand out and connect with customers all over Google Land. To take advantage of this service, set up a Google+ page, which can then be found via search and Maps.
“Google My Business is a great starting point for a small business because it’s easy to set up and free,” said Ryan ScollonSEO and PPC Consultant bowler hat. “It allows you to show in the local/map results on a Google search results page when people are looking for a local service or business. It also allows you to show the business hours of operation, contact details and even directions to your place of work. people need to visit you.”
Google+ page
Setting up a Google+ page is an important part of Google My Business. With a Google+ page, businesses can build an audience and retain customers with news, event announcements, special offers, and discounts. Google+ Business Pages let you keep your contacts informed by sharing status updates, photos, videos, and links.
With a Google+ page, you can integrate customers and followers into your marketing campaigns. They can use the +1 button to approve your posts and share your content on their Google+ pages and across the web.
Google search and Maps
A Google+ page will also help your business rank high in Google search results. This makes it easier for customers to find directions, hours of operation, and contact information, whether they’re searching on their computer or mobile device.
Google Posts
Google now lets you share content directly to Google. To do this, search for your name or company name, click to type under the knowledge panel, and follow the instructions from there. Anyone looking for you or your business will have access to messages, where you can include images, videos and GIFs and create events. Setup is quick and easy.
To start: Learn more about Google My Business
Google AdWords
Need to reach even more customers? Advertise on Google to increase your sales and grow your business. Small businesses can take advantage of the search giant’s reach with Google AdWords, an easy-to-use cost-per-click (CPC) advertising platform.
The CPC model means you only pay when people click on your ads. You can set your daily budget for each ad campaign and adjust these budgets as needed. For example, if you have a daily budget of $10, you would have a maximum CPC of 50 cents and around 20 clicks per day.
Using AdWords, businesses can create advertisements that appear on relevant Google search results, including on mobile devices, and on related websites. For example, if you own an ice cream shop in Los Angeles, your ad will appear when someone searches for an ice cream shop in the area and on ice cream, dessert or other related websites. food.
You can edit your ads at any time and launch them locally, nationally and even globally. AdWords offers powerful reporting and analytics tools, allowing you to monitor ad performance to ensure campaigns are meeting advertising goals.
But according to Scollon, Google Adwords should be approached with caution.
“The problem here is that if it’s not set up or maintained properly, it can very quickly burn through your money,” he said. “This can get small businesses off the ground fairly quickly without having to wait for other marketing activities to kick in, but be sure to spend enough time researching or hiring a professional.”
To start: Try Google AdWords
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Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a powerful free tool that allows businesses to measure traffic and track visitor behavior to determine what is and isn’t helping a website achieve its goals. It offers a range of visitor metrics, such as audience engagement, mobile and social media traffic, bounce rates (the rate at which visitors stay on a website or move between pages), and Moreover. It also includes referral traffic information (where the traffic is coming from) to gauge if marketing campaigns are working and how they can be improved.
“Google offers free certifications to business owners who want to take advantage of the goldmine of data that comes from using this tool,” said Jeanette Guardiola-Woods, founder of Google. sketch and form.
Once you learn how to use Google Analytics, you can find out things like your customers’ geographic location, other sites they’ve visited, what type of devices they’ve used, whether they’ve responded to a call-to-action on your site, which pages of the site they abandon the most, and much more, Guardiola-Woods said.
“The real value of this data is that it allows you to target your customer more specifically, fix areas of your site that need optimization, and track successful events,” she added.
To start: How to use Google Analytics
Google workspace
As a small business, you don’t need expensive productivity solutions to support your operations. An affordable alternative is Google Workspace, formerly G Suite, which offers a streamlined suite of web-based office programs, as well as cloud storage and a collaboration service. It consists of Gmail, Calendar, Drive (which includes Docs, Sheets, and Slides office apps), Hangouts, and more. These platforms come with desktop and mobile access, offline support, and Google-backed security.
Google workspace starts at $6 per user per month. The basic plan includes 30 GB of storage for each user. Top-tier plans, for $12 or $18 per month, include 2TB and 5TB of storage, respectively. There is also an enterprise plan which includes unlimited storage. For this plan, you must contact the Google sales team for specific pricing information.
Gmail
If you love Gmail, you’ll appreciate that Google Workspace lets you access your work email using the Gmail platform, but without the @gmail.com extension. You will be able to use an email address personalized with your company domain, for example [email protected] This version of Gmail comes with 30 GB of storage, Google’s search and security features, integration with Calendar, and more.
Calendar
As the name suggests, Calendar allows users to manage their schedules and organize their days. Features include meeting reminders and calendar sharing, so you can see when team members are busy or free. Additionally, users can attach documents to events and embed event calendars on company websites, for example, to allow customers to book appointments instantly.
To drive
Drive gives you anytime, anywhere access to your files and documents. This online storage and the collaboration platform allows you and your team to store, share and edit files in real time on the web. Drive includes comprehensive productivity apps, such as Docs (its word processor), Sheets (a spreadsheet editor), and Slides (presentation software). For mobile access, these services are available as standalone mobile apps on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
Hangouts
Collaborate with anyone in the office, across the country, or halfway around the world with Hangouts. Using this service, you can host online meetings and high-definition video conferencing, or keep it simple and stick to instant messaging.
Hangouts easily integrates with other Google app services, such as connecting directly from the Gmail inbox, adding a video event to your Google Calendar, or working on Drive documents while on the call.
To start: Sign up for Google Workspace
Additional reporting by Sara Angeles and Jill Bowers.
