Google Small Business: October 2015

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Google Shopping Best Practice Videos Help You Reach More Shoppers for the Holidays

Monday, October 26, 2015

The holiday season is often the busiest time of year for many small business owners. In addition to running your business, trying to implement a top-notch holiday marketing campaign can be daunting. Here at Google Shopping, we want to help you succeed during one of the busiest times of the year and connect shoppers with your products at the drop of a (Santa) hat.

Earlier this year, we shared Google for Retail, our online hub for businesses of all sizes to get up and running on Google Shopping. Today, we’re introducing a few new Google Shopping best practice videos, highlighting three tactics to help you turn clicks into customers and find even more shoppers this holiday season.

Manage your Shopping campaign

After you’ve set up your Shopping campaign, you’ll want to make sure you have your goals, bids, and budgets set for the best results. In the video below, we’ll eliminate the guesswork and walk you through setting up realistic budget and targets to maximize your reach on Google.

Get more of your products online

When setting up your first data feeds, you may run into issues that prevent your products from appearing on Google. Learn more about how to get your data feed into tip-top shape to show even more of your products online, making it easier for shoppers to find you.

Optimize your Shopping campaigns

Once your Shopping campaign is up and running, you’re ready to think about how to optimize your ads to get the best return-on-investment (ROI). While there are many ways to do this, the key is knowing what to do first. Learn optimization fundamentals including how to drive traffic to your site and optimize that traffic to maximize your profits and ROI.

By managing your Shopping campaigns, fixing your data feed disapprovals, and optimizing your ads, searching shoppers can find all the products you’re selling -- helping you efficiently and effectively get more sales for the holidays, and beyond.

For more information on Shopping campaign best practices, check out the Google Best Practices Help Center or our Google Shopping YouTube channel.

Posted by Kim Doan, Product Marketing Manager, Google Shopping

How to Win Autumn's Mobile Moments

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Autumn has arrived. For some, that means settling back into football season. For others, it’s venturing to a local apple orchard on the weekend with friends. And for many, it’s making another attempt at winning the Halloween costume contest. But no matter what, people turn to their mobile devices whenever they want to make the most of their autumn. This time of year is full of potential for businesses to connect with customers in the I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-do or I-want-to-buy moments when they are making decisions.

With that in mind, it's time to create the best mobile experience so your business can be there in the moments that matter most this season. Start with these three tips from real-life businesses that are turning autumn into a season of opportunity.

Be there

Lyman Orchards shows up when people search on mobile

Lyman Orchards is the twelfth-oldest family owned business in the United States. Deeded in 1741, this quaint and picturesque farm spans 1,100 acres in central Connecticut and will celebrate its 275th anniversary throughout 2016. Though its roots are in the 18th century, the company connects with potential visitors in a very 21st century way. Lyman Orchards uses Google My Business to easily provide driving directions, hours of operation, a phone number, and even photos to people using their mobile device to search for fun fall activities.

Nowadays, consumers are 38% more likely to visit and 29% more likely to consider purchasing from businesses with complete listings online¹. And because 4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information like store addresses, business hours, product availability and directions², small businesses need to make sure their information is available when their customers are looking for them–especially on their mobile phones.

Try updating your Google My Business listing with your seasonal information, hours, and some fall-friendly photos to make sure you're providing would-be visitors with all the information they need in the moment it matters.

Be useful

Blitsy engages customers with crafting how-to videos

Blitsy, the self-described “must-go source for crafters,” merges old school hobbies with modern day technology by helping crafters discover the latest designs and trends from their favorite brands. When they know their customers are gearing up for Halloween, Blitsy leverages YouTube to motivate crafters with how-to video content, including DIY Halloween Bats, Witch Broom Drink Stirrers, and Easy 3D Paper Pumpkins. With the season inspiring plenty of spontaneous I-want-to-learn moments, Blitsy connects with their mobile customers in creative ways with useful information.

What makes Blitsy's strategy so crafty? In our age of instant information, sharing knowledge and useful content can influence purchasing decisions. In fact, 1 in 4 shoppers (26%) say online videos are their go-to source for gift ideas, and 32% of shoppers say they plan to use online video more this year for holiday purchases³. When it comes to providing the right information at the right time, videos can convey your company’s message and story more dynamically and provide a better experience to curious potential customers, many of whom are watching on-the-go. More than half of YouTube views now come from mobile devices.

So get the camera rolling this fall. Create videos to tell your company's story, share how-to clips, and capture the attention and imaginations of viewers, wherever they're watching.

Be quick Print Syndicate makes sure its site is built for swipes
For those who want to express themselves this autumn season but aren’t inclined to wear a costume, they can turn to Print Syndicate. Selling through its three brands—LookHuman.com, ActivateApparel.com, and MericaMade.com—Print Syndicate is a print-on-demand e-commerce company that designs socially and seasonally relevant apparel, phone cases, housewares and more. Their extensive Columbus, Ohio based team is constantly creating new designs in response to social media trends or upcoming holidays. Given that 30% of online shopping purchases now happen on mobile devices, Print Syndicate has ensured that all three of its brands have mobile-friendly sites showcasing their latest and most clever Halloween shirts. With a few simple swipes on their mobile sites, anyone can find, view and purchase a quirky Halloween t-shirt on-the-go from anywhere in the country.
Print Syndicate is making sure everyone is ready for Halloween, but it’s also looking ahead to the holidays: 1 in 4 people start holiday shopping before Halloween, and last year more than half of those who shopped online did so using smartphones or tablets. Print Syndicate knows that capturing those mobile I-want-to-buy moments is increasingly important for businesses to compete during the holiday season, so the company runs mobile ads through Google AdWords to reach shoppers searching for creative gifts on their devices.
Be there when fall’s early holiday shoppers head to the web, and make sure your website is mobile optimized and thumb-friendly to reach customers who are searching on the go. You can also update your website with a seasonal landing page to create an even stronger user experience.
Mobile is changing the way we live, and changing the types of information customers expect from businesses online. Make the most of that this fall: when mobile users head to the web, be there, be useful, and be quick. These three simple tips can help your business make the most of the season's best autumnal moments.
Posted by Claire Mudd, Head of Small Business Marketing
1. Ipsos MORI, Impact of Search Listings for Local Businesses, August 20142. Google/Ipsos MediaCT/Purchased, Understanding Consumers’ Local Search Behavior, May 20143. Google / Ipsos MediaCT, Consumer Holiday Intentions Study 2015

Custom email, apps and more for Google Domains

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Last year we introduced Google Domains in the U.S. to make it easy for your business to get online with a domain name and website. We wanted to make finding, buying and managing domains for your business simple, and we partnered with best-in-class website builders like Blogger, Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly and Wix to help you create your site — no technical experience required.

Since then, we have helped people register hundreds of thousands of domain names and create tens of thousands of websites, many of whom are businesses like yours looking to build and expand their online presence. Through your continued feedback, today we’re introducing upgrades to improve the Google Domains experience by adding:

Custom email addresses - create an email address like, you@yourdomain or sales@yourdomain via Google Apps for Work.
Over 90 new domain name endings - purchase domains with new endings like, .life, .world, .business, .cool, .pizza, .gifts, and .football (here’s the new full list).
Domain ownership transfer - allows you to always make sure the right person is managing the right domains (learn more here).

Custom email addresses are a key part of building your online identity. Email addresses such as you@yourdomain help you establish credibility when you communicate with customers. Setting up a custom email address with Google Domains is an optional service for $5/month/user, and with that you’ll also get the full Google Apps for Work productivity suite. Google Apps for Work includes helpful business tools like video meetings, shared calendars, online document editing and 30 GB of file storage.

New domain name endings offer more choice and flexibility as you pick a memorable address for your business website. New endings are continuously opening up to the web, like .legal, .accountant and .services, and can help you create a name that matches who you are and what you do. Check out some of the people on Google Domains already using these new domain name endings: sublimation.kitchen, smilesnap.social, thecooler.ninja, and marcblair.photography.

It’s our mission to help your business easily get online and succeed with a domain name, and we want to make sure we continue to offer you the best tools and experience possible in our beta. So, if you have any input, questions or feedback, please don’t be shy!

See you online at www.google.com/domains.

Posted by Ben Fried, VP and CIO

Small Business

Google Shopping Best Practice Videos Help You Reach More Shoppers for the Holidays

How to Win Autumn's Mobile Moments

Custom email, apps and more for Google Domains

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