AdWords Express delivers meaningful interactions with goals

AdWords Express delivers meaningful interactions with goals

By linda linklink   10:58 AM   No comments:

While AdWords Express has always aimed to make it easy to set up ads on Google, we’ve seen that it can still be challenging for small business owners to tell how well their ads are working to deliver real-world results.

Today, we’re changing that with the launch of goals in AdWords Express. You can now choose which business goal you want to achieve with your online ad. AdWords Express will then continuously optimize your ad with that goal in mind and show you how well your ad is meeting your goal.

There are three goals you can choose from depending on what matters most to your business:

1. Call your business: Get more direct calls from potential customers who are ready to talk on the phone about your products or services.
2. Visit your storefront: Bring more customers to your physical store location.
3. Take an action on your website: Get more people to take a specific action on your website, such as filling out a form or requesting a free quote.

Depending on which you select, AdWords Express then fine-tunes your ad to meet your goal. For example, selecting “Call your business” will prompt Google to show your phone number more prominently in your ad, making it easy for potential customers to call you at the exact moment they want to get in touch. Then you can check out your ad’s performance by reviewing goal-specific metrics, like how many calls your ad generated, or how often people saw your ad and then searched for your store on Google Maps.

The addition of goals is possible because of a series of changes we’ve made to AdWords Express over the past two years — including using Google Analytics to track website actions, and using Google Maps visits and Google forwarding numbers to track store visits and phone calls. Together, these changes help you do what you really care about — connect with customers.

We’re excited to continue working to help you get better, more meaningful interactions with customers, so stay tuned for coming updates. In the meantime, to learn more about AdWords Express, head over to our website.

Posted by Kavi Goel, Group Product Manager, AdWords Express

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Across the U.S., businesses are using the web to grow

Across the U.S., businesses are using the web to grow

By linda linklink   11:26 AM   No comments:

When their 10-year-old daughter asked if she could raise alpacas on the family ranch, Jim and Kelley Hobart figured, “Why not?” They welcomed the animals onto their land and soon thereafter discovered the many benefits of alpaca wool. It was soft, durable, warm and eco-friendly—it had to be shared with the rest of the world. To the delight of their daughter and alpaca lovers everywhere, the Hobarts launched Alpaca Direct in 2005, producing quality yarns and apparel made from the unique fiber.

Jim and Kelley never imagined that a curious request from their youngest daughter would transform into a full-fledged business, or that a small storefront in Hayden, ID, would become a popular travel destination for knitting enthusiasts worldwide. Yet today Alpaca Direct is at the heart of a vibrant and global knitting community. With the help of the web, they’ve brought the warmth of alpaca wool to more than 100,000 customers across 30 countries. As Kelley says, “With Google tools, we can do that, and [customers] can be part of our community.”

In 2016, Google’s search and advertising tools helped provide $222 billion of economic activity for 1.5 million businesses, website publishers, and nonprofits across the U.S. Our 2016 Economic Impact Report explores that economic impact state-by-state and the local businesses that are helping to drive it.   

While working on a small leather goods line in New York City, Tanya Menendez and Matthew Burnett realized how difficult it was to find local manufacturers. In an effort to democratize that access, the two started Maker’s Row, an online marketplace that helps small businesses find American factories to make their products. They use AdWords to both establish factory partnerships and find new customers, and YouTube to, as Tanya describes, “put a face behind the products that are made in the United States.” In five years, the company has helped 120,000 small businesses source and create products in 11,000 American factories.

After serving as a U.S. Marine for six years, Nick Baucom founded a company, Two Marines Moving, in Alexandria, Virginia. His goal was to keep his fellow veterans gainfully employed, while giving local residents a moving option they could trust. Today, Two Marines Moving employs more than 100 veterans. They use Search and AdWords not only to find customers,  but also to recruit employees. Nick has opened a second location in Florida and hopes to create job opportunities for 500 veterans in the next five years, vowing that “veterans will always have a home here.”

Across the U.S., businesses large and small are using the web to find their customers, grow, and make an impact. We’re proud to be part of their stories.

Posted by Claire Mudd, Director, Americas Small Business Marketing

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This National Small Business Week, Build Your Online Skills with Lessons from the Pros

This National Small Business Week, Build Your Online Skills with Lessons from the Pros

By linda linklink   9:19 AM   No comments:

The web is helping small businesses grow. As the place where people turn to learn, discover, find, and buy things, it’s connecting customers to small businesses and small businesses to customers. Being online can have a big impact–in fact, businesses that are online grow 40 percent faster and are twice as likely to create new jobs than those that remain offline.1

We see the power of the web working for American small businesses. Millions of small businesses are found on Google Search and Maps every single day across the nation.

With a little bit of elbow grease and the help of technology, we believe every business can grow online. So together with our partners, we’re continuing our mission to help make that happen. Through our Get Your Business Online initiative, we’re bringing together free resources and tools to help you this National Small Business Week and beyond.

Learn from the pros through bite-sized lessons

Build your online business and marketing skills with five-minute lessons from Primer, our free mobile app. To celebrate National Small Business Week, we’re happy to announce new lessons created by small business experts Anita Campbell, John Jantsch, Ramon Ray, and Rhonda Abrams. Each has created a special lesson from their decades of experience working with and coaching small businesses. We’re also excited to share new web-based lessons.

Get your business online

Be where your customers are. Get your free listing on Google Search and Maps.  Show pictures of your business, list your hours, and add your phone number so customers can just click to call you or get directions. Businesses with complete listings are considered twice as reputable.2 Use this handy tool to get started.

Make sure your website works on mobile

Did you know that more than half of all Google searches happen on mobile phones? Mobile shoppers want quick results–53 percent say they’ll wait no more than three seconds before abandoning a site.3 How fast does your website load? Use the free Test My Site tool to see how well your site works on mobile. We’ll email you a personalized assessment with specific recommendations on how to make it better.

Want even more?

During National Small Business Week (and throughout the year), Google and our partners are hosting in-person workshops to help you grow your business online. Find a workshop near you.

Small businesses are the heart of our communities. Thank you for making the places we call home, home.

Happy National Small Business Week.

www.google.com/smallbusinessweek

Posted by Soo Young Kim, Head of Marketing, Get Your Business Online   

1 BCG Report, The Connected World: The $4.2 Trillion Opportunity, March 2012.

2 Google/Oxera, The Benefits of Complete Business Listings, December 2014.

3 Google Data, Global, n=3,700 aggregated, anonymized Google Analytics data from a sample of mWeb sites opted into sharing benchmark data, March 2016. Think With Google.

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Help Holiday Shoppers Find Your Business

Help Holiday Shoppers Find Your Business

By linda linklink   9:49 AM   No comments:

Since 1992, Werkheiser Jewelers has been helping customers find the perfect holiday gift–from picking out an engagement ring to restoring cherished family heirlooms. While they’ve kept their love for tradition alive, the way they do business has changed with the times.

Today, 78% of shoppers online use the Internet for holiday research.1 That includes jewelry shoppers searching for a gift for that special someone. Alyssa Rizzo-Berg, Media Marketing Manager at Werkheiser Jewelers, explains, “Maybe they’re looking to buy that first big piece of jewelry or an engagement ring. Because of Google, they’re able to find us.”

We all rely on small businesses to help make our holidays special, and we rely on the Internet to help us find the right local spots. Is your business ready to connect during this busy time of year?

In the next few weeks, Google and our partners are bringing hundreds of local workshops to a city near you to help your business get ready for the holidays. On October 26th, we’re also hosting a live workshop online with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Join us to learn how to create a free business listing on Google, optimize your website for mobile, and advertise online.

Find a holiday prep workshop near you at gybo.com/holidays

- OR -

Tune in on Wednesday, October 26th at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET to watch the livestream.

We hope to see you there. And from our team to yours, happy holidays!

Posted by Emily Harris, Program Manager, Let's Put Our Cities on the Map

1. Ipsos MediaCT, Google Post Holiday Shopping Intentions Study, January 2015, n=1,500.

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Academy for Ads: On-The-Go Training for Google's Ad Products

Academy for Ads: On-The-Go Training for Google's Ad Products

By linda linklink   10:00 AM   No comments:

Becoming a digital advertising expert takes time, and it’s important to get off to a good start. Only 50 percent of marketers say they’re confident in their knowledge of digital advertising,¹ despite the wide range of educational materials available – sometimes “more” isn’t the same as “better.” You’ve told us that you want quick, bite-sized training in more interactive formats. And we heard you.

We’re pleased to announce Academy for Ads, a new digital training platform designed to help you learn how to use Google’s ad products in a mobile-first world. We built Academy for Ads to promote learning on-the-go, whether you’re on a laptop, a desktop, or a mobile device.

Grow your Google product know-how
Guided by input from our team of product experts, Academy for Ads courses cover the topics that matter most to Google advertisers – from AdWords basics and the essentials of campaign management to bid strategies, reporting, optimization, and more ways to successfully advertise with Google.

Learning paths, Assessments, and Achievements
We’ve organized the courses into “Learning paths” that you can walk through at your own pace. At the end of each path, take an Assessment and earn an Achievement to show that you know your stuff. Earning an Achievement for AdWords helps prepare you to take the AdWords Certification exam in Google Partners, or try deeper education offerings such as AdWords Academy.

A few example Learning paths:

• Digital concepts: Learn the essentials of online ads, including third-party ad-serving, programmatic buying, remarketing, and more.
• Get started with AdWords: Learn the basics of AdWords and prepare for the AdWords Certification exam offered by Google Partners.
• Get started with AdWords Display: Learn how you can show ads to your online audience via the Google Display Network.

Academy for Ads also offers training for DoubleClick clients, with Learning paths covering Bid Manager and Ad Exchange – and more to come.

Get started
If you already use Google Partners, you can sign in through the Partners portal at g.co/learnwithpartners — or, you can go directly to g.co/AcademyforAds to sign up and start sampling courses and Learning paths. We’re constantly adding more content, so if you like what you learn, keep coming back for more.

Posted by Tracy Bizelli, Head of Academy for Ads

1. 6 Fundamentals to Managing Digital Marketing in 2015, TFM Insights (January 2015)

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3 Ways to Get More from AdWords Express Right Now

3 Ways to Get More from AdWords Express Right Now

By linda linklink   9:00 AM   No comments:

In 2011, with 13 years of interior design and window covering work under her belt, Sandra Anderson set off on her own to start Anderson Custom Window Coverings, Inc. She offered high quality support at a lower cost than many competitors, and was driven to get things right on the first try. But when she opened her business, she found it difficult to bring customers through the door with traditional methods like flyers and a listing in the phone book. That’s when Sandra decided to try Google advertising.

Today, Sandra says 80% of her new customers come from Google ads, and she relies on AdWords Express, our smart advertising tool, to manage campaigns for her so she can focus on running her business. For small businesses without a professional marketer on staff, AdWords Express can lighten the load – and over the last year, the number of businesses using AdWords Express has nearly doubled, with more signing up every day.

We’re thrilled to see business owners finding success with AdWords Express, and are determined to make it a one-stop shop for helping to grow your business. To reach this goal, we’re introducing 3 new features to help you reach a larger audience and understand exactly how your ad is impacting your business.

1. Ad Scheduling – Choose to run your ad at specific times
   
   Nearly one third of searches for local businesses in the US come from consumers who want to make a purchase immediately.¹ Ad scheduling is a simple way to make sure your ad only runs at times you choose, (during your hours of operation, for example), so you reach your customers at exactly the right time.

   

   You can choose custom hours or link to your Google My Business account to automatically run your ad only during your business hours.

2. Map Actions – Understand how your ads drive people to your store
   Map Actions shows you how many customers who’ve viewed your ad go on to view your business on Google Maps – which can be vital, since over 1/3 of visitors in the US use online maps to find local businesses.² If you care about whether your ads drive people to your storefront, Map Actions might just be your favorite new tool.

   

   Map actions shows how many customers interacted with your
   Google Maps listing after viewing your ad. 

3. Verified Calls – Get better call tracking
   Right now we’re piloting a new way for advertisers to track which phone calls they receive come from customers who clicked “Call now” on an ad on their mobile phones. Advertisers who opt into Verified Calls will also see detailed information about incoming calls, including the area codes and call duration. We’ve already rolled this out to many AdWords Express advertisers, and hope to expand it to all users soon.

   

   New insights into verified calls allow you to see time, duration, and location of each call along with overall trends in call volumes.

If you’re already advertising on AdWords Express, start understanding more about your performance with these new features today. Or, if you’re just getting started, visit google.com/adwords/express, or check out our help center to learn more.

Posted by Kavi Goel, Senior Product Manager, AdWords Express

1. Google Consumer Barometer
2. Google Consumer Barometer

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