As small business owners we need to juggle a lot of different responsibilities…and pay a lot of bills. Sometimes it’s just nice when someone offers us free knowledge and free tools that help us grow our businesses without breaking our bank accounts.
And Google – yes Google, offers plenty of free resources for us – did you even know they had free training in Google Analytics? If you did, then bravo! If not…well, we’ve hammered together a list of 4 free resources that the Big G actually wants SMB’s to take advantage of – dig in and explore.
This allows you to get your business listed for free so that people can find you in Google Maps and Google Search.
This is where you enter your correct business name, address, phone number, hours of operation and website information. And it’s important to distinguish whether you are an online-only business or if you have a brick-and-mortar location that people can actually visit.
If you have a physical location – go ahead and upload some nice images of your business. Combined with the reviews that other customers leave – these can give people a sense of what to expect before they walk through your doors.
Once your listing is complete – you will return to your Google My Business dashboard to edit any changes to your information so that prospects and customers can continue finding you in a Google Search.
Did you know that you can learn about analytics directly from Google…for free? They offer bite-sized chunks of learning with videos (and scripts if you prefer to read) accompanied by practice lessons.
So before you spend money on a course in Google Analytics, go ahead and visit this site first to get some free learning under your belt.
Now that you’ve absorbed all that free knowledge at the online Analytics Academy it’s time to put it to good use! And what small business owner doesn’t want to make use of Google Analytics to find out who is searching for your site, visiting your site, how often they stop by and what you can do to get them to return?
This is the free portion of Google Analytics that small business owners can use. There are some bells and whistles that you won’t have access to, but this is a great way to get started learning and using analytics and in the long run you might find that you don’t require extra bells and whistles.
The Tag Manager is where Google helps you manage both your website and mobile app tags when it’s convenient for you.
A lot of small business owners like to be hands-on when it comes to their online marketing and Google’s Tag Manager lets you have that control.
Google is big. It has a lot of moving parts that can be somewhat confusing for any business owner, regardless of whether you are just opening your doors or if your company has been thriving for several years. Either way, you know that the reach of the internet has increased your competition for both prospects and customers.
So take advantage of any free knowledge and resources that Google offers. Use it to help boost your company’s presence, both online (and offline) and increase your Google marketing savvy. Become a Google Guru.
