Brought to you by our friends at Google.
Business Chicks is dedicated to providing you with hands-on information you can leverage in your business. With the average consumer online for 6 hours and 42 minutes every day (yep, you read that right), we partnered with Google to learn the latest tips for marketing on their platform. If you missed our recent Grow with Google small business workshop in Melbourne, we’ve got you covered.
Google is a verb for a reason
The company’s mission is to make the world’s information easily accessible, and it seems to be working, with billions of Google web searches happening every day. In Australia, 4 out of 5 consumers turn to the search engine before engaging with a business. In our digital age your website is your new front door, and the first interaction most customers will have with your business. When designing your website and business profile you need to put yourself in the shoes of your consumer. Think about the micro-moments that are leading customers to your front door, the “I want to go…”, “I want to know…” moments.
Your free search engine listing is your other website
With Google My Business, you can create a business profile to help control the way your website data is displayed in Google search results. Your business profile is not just for bricks-and-mortar businesses and doesn’t replace your website, it simply aggregates all the key information about your business helping direct customers to you in a more efficient manner..
How many times have you searched “best coffee” or “pharmacy near me”? More than 30% of mobile searches relate to location therefore it’s now more crucial than ever for your profile to be set up to ensure you appear across Google Maps. Here it can display operating hours and be altered to reflect seasonal trading or COVID-19 related hours. With 90% of customers more likely to visit a business featuring a high quality, relevant photo, you should also take advantage of this profile feature. Google My Business is also where you can add attributes, for example the fact you’re a female-run business or maybe that you offer wheelchair accessibility. All of this and more can be done both online via the Google My Business website but also on the Google My Business app.
Negative reviews are brand-building opportunities
We know that positive reviews can be your best method of advertising. Google sees the same opportunity for the negative reviews, too. These can be a valuable learning experience for your business, and an opportunity to start a dialogue with customers and demonstrate professionalism. Google will only remove reviews that violate their content policy; and encourage businesses to respond in a timely manner to demonstrate that you care.
Only pay for successful conversions
With Google ads, you only pay for results – for clicks and calls. Google offers multiple platforms of advertising to help connect with your target audience – three key ones are search, , shopping and display ads. Think of the ads served without a conversion as a branding exercise for your business. With no start-up fee, no cancellation fee and no contracts, it’s easy to see why so many small, medium and large businesses across the world are using the platform.
Google Ads are served in real time auctions. When someone searches a specific keyword, a live auction takes place, taking into consideration messaging similarity, relevancy to the search and how much the business is willing to pay to be served in front of the consumer. Google Ads allow you to provide as many keyword variations as possible to ensure your ads are appearing in front of your target audience, geo-target your ads, and adjust the hours to ensure you’re only in front of customers at hours you can service them. You can also remove irrelevant search phrases to ensure people don’t come across your ad in situations where you cannot assist them.
Reporting and insights will help you make smarter business decisions
Google Analytics is free to anyone with a website, and provides insight into your business, your customers and their behaviours. With Google Analytics you can compile novel, credible and actionable business information based on the patterns and trends that emerge from your raw data. Google Analytics can provide a range of reports, real time reports, conversion reports, audience profile reports, customer acquisition reports and customer behaviour reports. Examining these reports about your customer’s profile and behaviour will help you direct and inform business decisions.
Want to learn more? You can watch the whole Grow with Google workshop here!
A huge thank you to Google for making this opportunity possible! You can access all the tools, resources and training online for free at any time at Grow with Google Australia.
