Recently in Brisbane, John Ball, Director or Small Business, Google Australia and New Zealand, said the gap between people who need the skills and people who have the skills is widening. “The skills” he was referring to are in relation to the internet. And, “people who need the skills”, according to the Hon Kate Jones MP, Minister for Innovation and Tourism Industry Development and Minister for the Commonwealth Games, would be the people running the small and medium-sized businesses that 90% of Queenslanders are employed in.

Google are trying to narrow the gap by hosting a series of free events to educate the masses, especially small business owners and students. Cynics may say that the outcome Google are ultimately aiming for is increased revenue from advertising dollars. I’ll cast that aside though and in the interest of my #alwayslearning hashtag focus on sharing some key take-always that I understand can be implemented without directly spending a cent.

Vitality

Vitality comes from within. When we PEPP® Up and increase it, which means looking at business and life through a lens of Purpose, Energy, Pleasure and Profit, in any order YOU like, it pays to make the most of all the information available to us.

I know some of these websites or tools are new, and others listed have been around for many years. I still thought I’d include them as part of the summary. And remember, if this detail is not your “thing” then that’s ok, but if you’re a small business owner, please make sure someone else in your world is across all this for you!

Grow With Google

Grow With Google is the initiative and Brisbane is the second city (after Sydney) to experience a full “Google event”. I’ll write a separate post about that another day and for now will just say that it was slick and seamless without being “showy” and one of the best organised events I’ve been to in a long time. I would estimate 1,500 experienced some “Google love” yesterday and some more will today. And, unlike most free events where many less people show up than have registered, apparently more people turned up than had booked. Perhaps word got around that spectacular doughnuts were on the menu!

A summary of training for small business, students and teachers, as well as other events around Australia may be found here.

My Business Profile

So the first take-away I got was that completion of your Google My Business Profile is free and is the top way Google searches for a business phone number… remember to get the account verified – sometimes this takes a few days.

Your Business Profile is a bit like a business Facebook page or business LinkedIn page with opportunities including photos, videos, story posts, announcements, product and service details, offers and messaging. There is a smart phone app so you can especially be responsive to messages.

If you don’t have a physical address for customers to come to you don’t need to display your address in your profile BUT you do need to include it because 82% of people are now using a smart phone to find local businesses and then many enter terms like “near me” in the search criteria rather than identifying the actual place!

Online Learning – long and short

There are loads of free online courses at the Google Digital Garage. Some have been created by Google and others by universities around the world.

There’s a free online business training programme at www.yourprimer.com and then downloaded as an app. This is 5 minute business and digital marketing lessons designed to be watched on your phone while you’re waiting for your coffee or in some other queue. For courses specially curated for the Australian market search for “AUbiz” or “AUstudent” within the program.

Google Trends

View trends and find out if your business is affected by seasonality at www.google.com/trends

Google Analytics

Going behind Google and analysing the data has been around for many years. If you’re not doing this yet for your website, then now is the time.

It’s important to try and think like your customer and imagine what they’re thinking when they’re looking for a product or service like what you offer.

It will give you insights to understand the actions that your customers actually take when they visit your website… which may be different to what you think. You will then be able to make decisions around that such as when to have special offers eg at the quietest time and/or day not when you’re already busy! Remember the profit “P” in PEPP®!

Google Search Console

The Google Search Console is a free service to assist you to monitor, maintain and troubleshoot your website’s presence in Google search results.

The most staggering information I learned is that:
• 90% of all data was created in the last 2 years and
• 15% of searches every day are new! Imagine that.

This has led to DSA or dynamic search ads which means Google shows results that are nearly correct based on the entered search criteria.

Google Ads

If you want to pay to be closer to the top of the list when people search, then advertising with Google Ads is an option. Before you go here, think about whether you’re trying to:
• Get more calls
• Get more visits to your physical location
• Get more website sales or sign-ups

We Live Online

Cookie Wong, Account Strategist, Google Australia and New Zealand said “We don’t go online. We live online.” This is so true now. Unless we make a conscious effort to not.

I hope this summary of mostly free offerings from Google is helpful and gives your business, if you have one, a vitality boost. Please let me know how you go!