Small Business Digital 101 seminar: Learn to grow your audience using Google
And a wonderful, warm welcome, to, the beginning of a fabulous, year. Introducing. The City of Sydney small, business events so, this year due to popular, request from many many people that have sat in your very chairs was, a request, to focus, and deep dive into digital so. Tonight we bring you a really wonderful series, it's going to focus on how. Small businesses or medium businesses can really look at the digital tools. And, experiences, and what they can do in their own business so without any further ado I would actually love to welcome. The. Lovely clever. Thank. You Joe and a very warm welcome to you all tonight, this, is a great series that we run and. The. Feedback we get is that our. Businesses, are small businesses, particularly. Find. It very helpful and so like. John I want to welcome you to the first of our thought, leader seminars, for 2018. And. As. Joe said we're focusing, on small business in the digital era. So. I'd like to acknowledge. Our, esteemed. Speakers. Tonight Richard, Flanagan head of business marketing for Google Australia in New Zealand the. Owner Watson, a cheeky food events in Surry Hills and micro, grant a/c chief chef. And owner of careful Street kitchen and kept, horse and colon I went there didn't lunch on Sunday and it was absolutely fabulous Richard, Mack. So. So. We're looking at digital initiatives this year because. Digital. Strategy, is now critical, to the success success, of any small business, whether. You're in services, or retail or an online presence it's essential, if you want to grow your market and reach, your customers. Throughout. The year will bring you experts, from Google and that's Richard tonight from Facebook, and Instagram and, WeChat they'll. Offer you practical, advice on developing. Your skills through digital platforms. You'll. Also hear from business, owners who have a thriving online presence, as the only and Michael both do. The. City has recently launched. A new digital and social media campaign, and that's about promoting our local villagers and to profile many of the very varied. Businesses, in our high streets, macam. The, campaign invites residents, and businesses to, take pictures of their favorite local haunts and to, share them on social media, with the hashtag, Sydney. Local so. I hope you and other business owners will join in using. The Sydney local hashtag Facebook, and Instagram posts. The. More you tag images of your business offering, the, greater your chance of being featured in our social, media accounts, as. You'll hear tonight whether or not you have a digital market, budget, there are plenty of tools available to. Make sure you'll be discovered, online whether. It's a basic business listing, or a targeted, campaign you'll. Learn how the spread of mobile devices is shaping consumer, behavior and what you need to do to respond to these changes, so. On behalf of the city I'd like to thank Richard for coming here tonight I'd also like to thank the Oni and Michael for sharing their experiences, and I, hope you will all find it useful and informative, and, we hope to see you again to our other sessions, later in the year place, everyone. Thank. You so very much it's, such an exciting, opportunity to bring tonight's series to you because, we know from running, these events now successfully, for seven years at small businesses, continue to say how, how. Do I do that we've, heard great ideas. Great, experiences. From wonderful, businesses but how do we do it so, tonight our first speaker is going to tell you a lot about the how but, as you might know Google's. Pretty big and Richards. Going to tell you some of what Google has to offer but he's not going to be able to answer all your questions unless we. Were here for maybe five days so. Richards, going to present, tonight, from. His own experience, he's very passionate about small business and he. Introduced. The, Google platform which has especially introduced. For businesses, which is called the digital garage he's, going to spend some time tonight talking to you about that and he's going to tell you about the.
Features That you can actually tap into we're. Then going to lead into showing, you to small businesses who actually use this platform but we're going to show you one that's doing it entirely, free and we're, going to show you one that's using, some of Google's features, which you need to pay for we're, going to show you how they do it Richard zona you're going to give them some advice on stage not of how they can improve their performance which, I think they're both going to be really excited, to hear but, you're going to hear firsthand how, you can, do that and how your business can actually hopefully. Accelerate, through some of the tips and tools that we give you tonight so, without any further ado I'd love to welcome Richard he has a wealth of knowledge and we're so impressed and proud that you're here tonight so come on down Richard. So. Richard before we get started there's one other little piece of exciting, news we've got tonight, what's, that who have you brought with you tonight well I have, brought three. Other, Googlers with me I think, two of them have just walked in the door underneath. John. Is in there and them in the back row they've got the t-shirts, on and I, think they're gonna be able to help us out later on in, the evening fantastic. So we're going to show you tonight on this stage how. The, Googlers can actually help you in your business immediately so, one, of the fantastic, opportunities, we have tonight for six businesses, those, of you in the room either you're going to be randomly selected to spend some time at the end of the evening to, actually deep dive into your own business with some Googlers it's a brilliant opportunity and so, you, need to stay until the very end of the night we will announce who those lucky minutes are and. It will be a really fabulous opportunity, for you to ask some key questions so with, that in mind as Richards, talking whilst me our live streaming and you have a wonderful opportunity to really look at this content, start. Thinking of some questions if you're the lucky chosen one that you, would like to ask from the content that Richards actually talking through because it will be really valuable that you've got some some, some questions already ready to go so without anything I'll leave it to you Richard thank you. Thanks, very much to to. Joe, for that introduction and of course to the Lord Mayor and her, team for the invitation, to join you tonight it's, a real pleasure to be able to do this session in. The city that I'm very. Proud to call home I live, in Kings Cross and I also work in Piermont that's are the Google offices sort. Of able to share, this this, knowledge to businesses. That I may, know many of your businesses and then frequent them it's a real honor and a real a real, pleasure. So. This. Forms, this content, comes from our digital Garage program. And digital, garage is an online training platform, that we've brought to Australia a little. While ago to help empower small, business, owners with. The knowledge they need to succeed. Online and, to thrive it, covers, a whole, range of topics, this. Is a subset, of some of the the, best of content, that. That. I'll be able to cover tonight but. This content and a whole lot more is is, found online. So. Let's. Get into it and. When. I was a kid I always play, guitar I loved it I always wanted to design things, that was my other second, passion I remember, the first day that I had in my studio and I said little laughing I was ready to go and I really do feel that moment oh you know this is really happening, diving, is great it's all about exploring, and finding new things breathing. Underwater it's the closest thing to going, out of space in, 2009. I started to think could I sell guitars online, when, we first started that it was quite difficult to find information actually, you had to go looking in all these different places and, try and piece it together the great thing about digital garage is it just gives you all the information in one place you, can access it anywhere, the fact that you can now go watch, a video get step-by-step instructions. On how to do things is really helpful when, we put our first website up literally, took 14, days and we had our first booking now 60. To 70% of our bookings all done online in, the last three years our revenue, has tripled, it's like every another salesperson really, that's just doing it without you having to manage them it's gone from where we, started out didn't know it was possible so right now we're in the free markets Australia, New Zealand the UK learning.
Digital Skills has been integral, for our business and it, would have been so much easier if we had something, like the digital garage to help us back then. So. There, you've heard from a couple of Sydney. Based businesses, around how digital has helped them but, also around how the, digital garage content, can be useful. To, help them make it work as I've mentioned it's free training, there, are 26. Topics, covering, everything from SEO. How. To create a website ads. Products, whether it's mobile search, video. Analytics. Export. Ecommerce, it's, a very long list, as, I've mentioned I'm covering, in the next 40 minutes or so a subset, of that that's the sort of most requested, hot. Topics but please do I would encourage you to check it out afterwards. It's a resource that you can dip in and out to in and out of as you need to get, smart on a topic or brush up on something that you. Already are doing. It's. Free online and there's the link there's the link there and you can also just search on Google for digital garage Australia, and you'll, come up with a site, so. Why are we all here today, clearly, as, the Lord mayor mentioned digital. Skills are really necessary for businesses, to succeed, in today's increasingly, digital, economy up. Here are some results of some research that we ran with hundreds. Of Australian, small businesses, last. Year to understand, what, are the benefits. Of having a high level of digital enablement, for, their business and by, high level of digital enablement, we mean businesses, that are taking advantage of, a broad set of tools on things, like having a website having, a social media presence I'm looking, at analytics and tracking, the results of their, online, investments. Things. Like video advertising, or mobile advertising and the, businesses that are engaging, at a high level with these sorts of tools are. Seeing some of the results that. You see up here versus, the businesses, at the lowest level of digital, engagement that, really aren't taking advantage at. All of these tools so, you know stats, like 14 percent more likely to be innovating, or seven, times more likely to be exporting, clearly. There are some fantastic advantages, for businesses that invest their. Knowledge and possibly a little bit of budget. Into, some, of these tools and, across, that spectrum of digital enablement from, not having any, line presents to having a really sort of well thought, out and structured, digital. Marketing, strategy, there are benefits from moving up every, step of that that. Engagement so. Whether you are just starting out and just getting that first Google, my business listing. Established. Online or, whether you're gonna dip your toe into something more sophisticated like, YouTube advertising. For, example and, trying out video there, are benefits, for moving, up any stage of that digital digital, enablement, ladder I mean. Really that's really what, digital garage is. All. About. So, what is the technology. Or the trend that is driving some, of these stats. That I've just just. Shared and. Really. That is the fact that we don't go online anymore, we live online thanks. To the devices that I see many of you holding up in your hands right now that, is your mobile phone so this is the, supercomputer. That is by our side morning. Noon and night and. Really, it enables us to be really, in charge of, the. Information, that we want to seek and getting, answers to questions. And problems that we have throughout. Throughout. Our day and even even into the night sometimes and. These. Are bursts, of activity where. We express, a huge, amount of intent right we, need to help find. A business we need to help, find. A service that helps us solve a problem in our lives and. At Google we call, these bursts, of intent micro, moments and there's. A short video that I'm gonna play that illustrates. Some. Of these micro moments that happen throughout our lives and as.
You Watch it and as we go through the next bit. Of the training have a think about what are some of those micro moments that really matter for your customers, when, are those moments of intent and need, when, you're able to solve their problem and I'll, connect them with a product or service that's gonna make all the difference in their day. And. People ask us all the time how do I get into work. So. There. You go you can probably already, think about those micro moments that are personal to you that. You had to think about getting answers for today, but also think about what are your customers, needs what are those micro moments that matter for your business, and how, are you going to meet, those needs thanks. To the online world and really. Search is this connective, tissue that, connects people in their need when they're in that micro moment with. The business that has the product or service or offering that. They need and 82%. Of us Australians. Turn. To, search. Engine when we're looking for a local business and. That impulse now that we have mobile phones to. Find that need answered, in the moment has increased. Dramatically, you see 2x there increase, in a near me search interest so we're looking not just for that. Offering, that that suits us but that's near us and that we can access as. We're out and about and that's, we're getting this right for local businesses, is, incredibly. Critical. So. That's sort of the reason why all of this these. Tools that I'm going to talk about really, matter I'm hopefully, that's why you're here and we can get into some, of the practical. Tips. Great. So I've broken, the training, up into, into. Roughly three, parts the, first part I'm going to talk about Google my business which, is what. Happens when people are looking for. Your. Your. Business when. They're trying to find out more about you specifically, on. Search in maps next. Up I'm going to talk a little bit about our, Google ads products, which is when they're looking for the. Offerings that you have in your category, and how you can stand out and and, compete, with other businesses, in your category and. Then the last part is around some tools, that help with insights and analytics to. Help understand, how these tools are providing, value back to you and how you should invest your time energy and budget, to make more efficient, and effective outcomes, for you going. Forward so. Let's get into first. Google my business and to start with that understanding. The Google search, results. Paige I'm here, as it appears in a mobile and. The way to think about this it's broken into two but that's actually a scroll, so the right hand side is if you're scrolling. Down and. Just to look at the anatomy of how, these search results work. So. You can see the search here we. Are planning a trip down in Victoria, and, we are looking for a fishing trip in the, beautiful Mornington, Peninsula and. So. There are three elements to, this listing, to, the search result rather that's I'm going to walk us through so the first at the top there is an AdWords, ad so this is a paid ad that, someone, the advertiser will pay Google when someone clicks on that ad and goes, ahead and visits the website or or gives the business a call, further. Down and again it's that scroll so sort of the top of the of the second screenshot. There these, are Google my business listings. And those are the red pins, that appear on Google Maps, when. You're on search or when you're on Google. Maps and those, are free listings, and that's, what I'm going to talk about in the next several, several. Minutes and then, below that is the organic, search listings, and this, is where you, your, website's, has. Visibility. And Google knows what's on your website and that's where we want to provide the best possible answer, to the query that the person has put into into. Google so, three elements, of that search results, page I'm. Gonna cover the ads and the Google my business listings. This. Evening, happy, to address a little bit around SEO stuff and the organic listings in QA and there's entire, sections, on the digital garage learning. Platform where you can get access to lots, more deeper, information on, on. SEO. So. First is that free listing, on on, Google search, in maps here. You can see what it looks like. Both, on the. Desktop. Version as well, as on the, mobile site and there's a lot of real estate there so, what, shows up when you search for business. By, its name is.
Is, That, Google my business listing. And you see things like photos. About the business you'll. See reviews. And star ratings, that users will have given that business you'll, see the map and you'll see where that business appears on the map you'll. See links. To a website a, phone number the address, and. Even, some. Links. To for, example if it's a restaurant where. You can go and make a booking, or. Connect. With the business in another way so this, is again a free listing on Google search in maps and let's dive into a, little bit more the. The value that it can provide so. Really one of the core value, propositions, of Google my business is, how easy it makes it for people who are looking for your business and what you have to offer to get in touch with you so, as I mentioned it, has your, phone number and that's a direct click to call so, someone who is looking to find you can click right on that button and it'll go right to the phone number that you specify in. Your listing. Location. For directions so they can navigate to your business on the map as well, as of course opening hours so, you can set the days and times when, you're open and people can know whether they should show up or whether they'll need to sort, of take note and come back another time when. You actually when, you're open um. So, again these are free listings and. I'm gonna walk now through how you can sign up for your listing and do, what we called a claim, and verify, your listing which. Allows you to manage, it in a more in a deeper, way that, allows you to add more. Information. To. Your listing so, you're gonna start off at Google calm that I use slash business and you're, going to navigate to that top right button. To to, get started um you'll, have to create a login and a password for, a Google account and. If, you already have a gmail account that's, fantastic, you can use that one I, will. Mention here that make. Sure you write down what the email is that you for that account you've created and your password I hear, a lot of feedback here's some giggles a lot of feedback that this, is something that you assign this summer intern to do because. They're the youngest person in the office maybe and they're really good with computers and with the mobile make. Sure that if they do that they, give you the password you, know how to access it and then that information doesn't. Disappear, as that employee moves. On. To something else, so. The first thing you're gonna do here once you get in and you've created that login is search. For your business so, if you haven't claimed your listing already there's, I'm a good chance that we already know something about your business we have an idea that something is there but.
This Is a stage where you can claim. That listing and tell us a bit more so. You can enter your business name and. There. Should be a drop, down that will hopefully, signal. Whether, your business is there or not if you see your business go. Ahead and click, on it to continue if, not you, can tell, us that your business is not there and. Enter. Your into your details from from. Scratch. Here's. Another point where. You're going to tell us you're located so make sure your address is correct. Lots. Of businesses, that have a shopfront, or an office they want people to physically show up at your location, so, that precision, of your address, and showing up on the map exactly, where you are really, matters there's. Lots of other businesses, that provide services. In a local area but, they tend to go to where the customer is so, think plumbers, other sorts of tradies other. Professional, services and you don't necessarily want someone, because, you you know you your business is mobile you don't want someone to show up to your house right, so, what you can do is click that box that says. Hide. Your address essentially, and. We'll still ask well sort, of what is the radius where, you offer your service so, that could be the city it could be the more sort of metro area it, could be restricted a little bit more tightly to a particular, set. Of suburbs, on which you can sort of give us that radius and that, means that will show your listing, within that radius but. We won't point it to a specific location, on the map so, you don't have people showing up to your to, your home for example if you work from work, from home or have a mobile, business so. Google, my business does work in that case if you has a physical location or, if, you serve a local, area with, your business by going, out to where your customers, are located. So. As I just mentioned you can specify, the region postcode, or city where, you are operating, and. And that set that radius, or that, distance, where, you're, going to to operate. Next. Up you're gonna select your business category. Try. To find the one that is the closest, match you might have quite a niche business, but, just go ahead and find the category that is sort of the most appropriate, for. Your type of business, you're. Gonna enter your contact, details so this is where you put in the phone number that, you want to show on Google, and link. To your website if you already have one. And two, things I'll mention about the website here is many. Of you probably already have a website which is fantastic Google. My business can work in concert, with your website so they won't be competing with each other they should work in, tandem and you can have of course your website, listed. On the, Google my business listing. And vice, versa you can sort of embed your, Google my business listing. Into, your website if you'd like so, they can work in concert together. And that's something that we actively encourage. Something. Else with, this Google my business listing, is you can actually create. A free, website with. The information, in the, listing so, you can essentially publish, a website. By. Creating, your Google my business listing, so, if you're just starting off and. You're, a new business and haven't invested, in a website yet this, could be an option for you to think about so. Again create your listing and then there's an option to publisher to, publish your website for. Free onto. The web. Stay. Up to speed so if you tick, this box that, means we will send you helpful. Tips and tricks and updates. On your listing out to your email account make. Sure that you try to log into that account to get those to get those updates and get. Some value, out of them. The next part so this is the one that I'm probably going to the most questions about during the networking session. Afterwards this, is where we want to verify your, listing, and. Really, this means that when. Someone, searches, for your business or looks on the map for businesses, in a certain area if we're. Gonna send, that person to your business we, want to make sure it's. Actually where. You said it was and that, it actually is the business that that, it claims to be right because we have a responsibility, to our, users, to all of you to make sure that we're giving people an accurate, representation, of what's out there in the in the physical world so that's where we insist on verifying. Your listing and, making sure that your, business is is, as it says it is which. Means that we will typically, send you a postcard.
To The address, that's, in your listing with, a code and then with. That code you can log back into your account, verify. Your listing and. That means you can access some of the advanced. Features that I'm going to talk about in, the in the next session, next. Section section rather. There. Are other verification, methods that could be could, be an option there depends on your particular situation, you. Could be able to verify by SMS or by, a phone call to look at the landline at your business um if, you do it that way just make sure that your receptionist, or if you've an IVR that that's turned off so, that when it comes in you, can hear that sort, of Robo call that will tell you what the code is that you can then go ahead and enter into your into. Your listing. It's. Worth noting there as it is mentioned that businesses, that are verified, and engage, in active management of, their their presence on Google are five times more likely to get business from, Google so I, will, acknowledge it's, a little bit strange that you're waiting for a postcard from Google, but, it, is it is worth the effort there in terms of the the results that it that it does get. Because. It unlocks, on the backend lots of insights, about the, visitors who are coming to your listing. So, you can have a look at trends, around what. Days and times are they visiting your, site what. Art are. They visiting your listing rather what. Types of content are they interacting with how, many people are looking to navigate. To your business and request, those directions on. The map so, lots of insights there that are worth diving into once you've gone ahead and verified. Your listing. Great. So we'll assume that your listing is verified. Those, of you that already have verified listings, thanks. For. Sitting. Through that that section now we'll talk about some of the more advanced. Advanced. Features. So. I'm showing off your business with photos, the, web is obviously a visual place and for, local businesses, you, are essentially, inviting. The. Community into, your business and what a better way to to. Do that than with a, great. Set of photos. So, once you have that managed that, listing that you can manage you can go, ahead and upload photos. You, can of course change them seasonally, feel. Free to reuse, photos, that you're putting on other, platforms other social, media you. Don't really get any extra points for having like different photos for each type of platform. So if you've taken the photo once and you're happy with it by all means upload, it upload. It again and. Photos, are, listings. With photos as it says there are 35% more likely to get visits to their sites it's, a very inviting, format. That, entices, people to to come in and connect with your business a bit more. Another. Feature that we launched last year so it's quite new is called posts. On Google and this, is where you can set. A post. Within. Your Google my business listing. And. Essentially, you can share. Some, sort of a promotion, a special. And event you're doing if. You're a restaurant sort of a new, seasonal menu perhaps an event, you're hosting around a specific holiday, you, can select. How you want people, who view, that post to connect with, your business they can make a booking they, can make a phone call and. Really. It's a way to show. Off a little bit more about your business and. That post will, appear on the, Google search results when. Someone is looking at your at, your listing, um. You can also set an expiry date so if it is something that is temporary seasonal.
You, Can say okay I want this to show for, X, amount of time and. Then once that's expired that will no longer no, longer show. You. Are among, the few people who have sort of heard of this it's a bit of a newer, feature, so. I do encourage you to to, check it out and if you have a listing and have it engaged with it for a while there's. Might be one, reason to check back in and give, it a go. So. The way you can get started with the Google posts is just. Click. On the post options in your account go. Ahead and create, your listing or create your post rather publish. It and then, as I mentioned before when you're looking at the insights, about your listing you, can track with the post what sort of engagement you're, getting and use, that information to inform the, next ones that, you do so. You can you can give that a play and see what. Sort of different options are resonating. With, your audience. Another. Feature that we've, launched. For Google my business is QA so. This enables. There. Are two options are. There you can list. The question and answer. It yourself, commonly. Asked questions about your business, that. Your your, team or yourself are always always. Answering you can get one step ahead of that and put that on your listing and get that on the web front. And center also, it will enable people. Who are looking at your business to ask a question on the web and then, you can go ahead and answer, it for them online so, it's, a great way to sort of do. A bit of customer, service management, but. On, the web and. If you think about it people are coming to Google typically. Because they have a question so. For you to sort of preempt that and answer, it um could, be a great way to invite, someone to, to, use your service or to, weed out those people who really, aren't right for what you have to offer. And. And, you know save you the hassle of having to. Speak. With them on, the phone perhaps. So. Again as I mentioned a way to connect on a personal level with, customers, ask, questions, you can answer it again, only if you verified, your listing and are managing it or post. Your own fa Q's or, or do both. Great. So that's a little bit around. Google. My business again. Those free listings on Google Maps, and search we're gonna have an example of a business owner who is doing quite a lot with his, Google my business listings. You'll hear a bit more about that later on. And happy. To answer any questions about that during the the the, panel section session. In, a little while, so. Now. Let's move on to talking. About ads, on Google and this, is where you. Are wanting. To compete, in in your category. And, you. Are gonna want to stand. Out from the crowd so to speak, through. Search. Results, on Google through, those those. Paid ads. Well. I started fishing when I was 18 months old according to my father. I'm. Stewart of Sandra and, we both go fishing trips I hang. On to it another job for a while I was, standing, by the photocopying, machine and someone said you don't smile as much as you used to realize, that I didn't enjoy my job we. Were thinking about what, we'd like to do zoe chose our fishing boat it, is hard way of owning a small business it's, constant, we need to keep working all, the time we.
Need To keep working on the business over time we're. Advertising, through magazines, newspapers. That, really, didn't get us anyway we, found Google AdWords and that then you, have a third customer base that we did enjoy impossible, times, are changing people. Are using computers, phones, to, tap. Into what's available and, we want to be there, they. Want to come out fishing so they type in certain keywords and if, those keywords, match up with what we've put in Google AdWords up we pop it's. Really easy for people to contact us we're, still doing the same number, of troops but there's a lot more people on board that's, my, business. Can't. Imagine enjoying. Work, and, life, as much as I in there. After. A hard day's work you go home you have dinner and you sit down you just look each other and smile because you're enjoying what you do. So. Senden, Stewart down in in Mornington, with a fantastic. Business. And, sort. Of have rejuvenated, their, their. Customer base by. Standing, out in those searches and if you think about it those sorts of that. Category of, fishing. Charters day, trips in Mornington they wanted to stand out and wanted to attract, a great. Audience and as. They mentioned they didn't this didn't, necessarily want. To do more, trips I'm the only have I think one, boat so couldn't, necessarily do more trips but, wanted those trips to be to be full and to attract that audience in and that's, where they looked at ads, on ads. On Google so we'll talk a little bit about how. That works so. As, I mentioned that's where you can stand out. Online. And. Show. Your your, ad at the top of Google search results and what. We do essentially is we. Match the, keyword that someone types in with. What you what, you have to offer and. The. Way that works is. There. Are two, elements to, how we decide, which, ad, shows. At the top, the. First element is something we call quality score and the second element is the, amount, you are willing to spend, for. That click so, the quality score is really all about are you providing a, fantastic.
Result Once, someone clicks through from, your ad so, elements of the quality score include, is your, site. Loading, quickly um is it a great experience when someone clicks on that ad goes, to your website are they able to engage with the content and then, also how well does that keyword, match. The ad and, then how well does that ad match. What's actually on the landing page for, your. For your website, the. Second element is the, essentially. How much you're willing to spend, for. That for, that click and, I'll just mention again that you, only pay when someone clicks, on your ad just. The fact that someone does the search and sees, your ad you. Won't pay for that you, only pay when they click and go through to your to, your landing, page. There. Are a, fantastic, number of, extensions. That can sort of make your ads stand, out even more so. There are things like seller, ratings, where you can link. Through to sort of third-party, verified, sites that. Have official. Ratings about, your product or or service. There are site links where you can deep link to various, landing. Pages within. Your overall, website and, really, we want to encourage, people to click through to, sort. Of rich, rich. Content, that is available about, your business. Something. I will point out also is for, mobile that experience, of being able to click. Through and call your business directly, we, have extensions. There call, extensions, they're called where, instead, of clicking through to your website they. Can click and call directly on their mobile and, connect. With your business there you go right. Right on cue connect. With your business, on. The phone and you can take that booking, or take that inquiry, whoever. That was thank you perfect. Timing and. Call. Your business directly from, the search results. So. What, are some of the benefits of. Advertising. On Google it, gives you a huge, amount of control. And flexibility, based. On traditional, methods, of advertising. So. You can stop start, stop or, adjust, your ads at any time there. Are features you can pause you, can change things up as you need to you're. Also seeing real-time, results, so. You can log in to your account and, you can see exactly. How, many clicks you're getting what. Keywords are performing well which ads are performing well so. Huge amount of insight that you can use to, optimize. Your performance and. Optimize, your results over. Time and. Then finally flexible. Pricing so. You set a budget. That you're, comfortable with and we. Will only. Spend, up to that budget you can set that budget daily, level weekly, level monthly level and, so you only spend, what, you're comfortable with, just. One thing I will. Mention is, people, are often a little bit hesitant to, spend. Money on advertising you, have limited budgets you have limited resources and, that's totally understandable, I. Would, say that you have to be. A little bit realistic around, the. Type of budget you're gonna put in and the type of result you're going to get it's, not going to work instantly, overnight. With. Without. A good bit of. Of. Thinking and a little bit of strategizing, around, what are the keywords what. Are the ads what. Are the, the. Budget that is is right, for me and the, number, one tip that I'll offer with AdWords is understand, what, does success mean for you define. Those results, that you're comfortable with and be. Really focused, on understanding. Whether you are in fact getting, those results. Um. So how can you get started with with.
Google. Ads there, are three. Logos. That I have up here and I'll just spend, a minute or so explaining what each of these different options is, so. You have standard google adwords and this is really sort of the, manual. Version of adwords where you go in and you let, us know what your budget is that you'd like to spend you. Decide what, are the keywords that are relevant for your business you. Create those text, ads and. And decide which ads are gonna go against next which, keyword, and. You. Can go in as, much as you like and optimize. It and then set it up for success, for, your business. AdWords. Express is a more, automated version. Of Adwords, it's sort of the starter, package and with. AdWords Express it's if your business is a little a, little, lacks. A bit of the complex, that. Some businesses may have let's say you're in a somewhat standards. Category. And. You're looking to advertise locally. You, can let us know where. Your business is located what's. Your what is your website and. The system will in an automated, way come back with some recommendations, about what, keywords, are. Right for you and give, you sort of a budget set, of budget options sort of a small medium large and. Expected, results, you can get for each of those budgets. So, it's a way to take. The pressure off if you're if you're just starting out, and. Let. A bit of, the. Technology, make, some of those recommendations, for, you that you can then implement a little bit more easily, there. Are options to revert back and forth to the different options if you like if you're in. AdWords Express and you're getting good results and you want to have a little bit more control you, can sort of graduate, to that more, manual, version or you're more actively, optimizing. Your results, and, then. Another option we have is certified. Google partners, and these, are digital. Experts, all around Australia there are certainly many here, located, in Sydney who. Are certified, on our products and have a history. Of managing. Ad. Campaigns. For. Businesses. With success, and. We're gonna hear a little bit about that in the in the panel coming, up so. If you are, someone who wants. To outsource to an expert definitely. Would recommend that you check out Google, partners, you. Can find a list of certified partners, on google.com, slash, partners. And. It really is a buyer's market there, are a good number of them out there but, make sure if you're shopping for that specialist, that, you have a good connection with them they've. Shared some, customer. Testimonials. Of their, happy customers, and you're, able to make an informed decision and a transparent, decision around what, the value is that they're gonna provide to, you and your business.
Great. And the third part is looking, at insights, that will that, will help you grow and unlock. Even, more value for what you're doing. Online so. I'm going to talk about a couple of tools and platforms, that, you may want to take a look at and and bookmark, the. First one is think. With Google which. Is our website that. Has a huge, amount of research, and thought, leadership about. Trends, in digital marketing and. And, the online space both. Here in Australia and, around the world so some great case studies. Research. Around. Consumer, behavior. Mobile. Usage for, a range. Of different categories if, you're, someone who likes to do a lot of reading and stay up on the trends then, definitely would take a look at the think. With Google, website. Great. Resource there, Google. Trends anyone, used Google Trends for their business or just for yeah a couple hands there so, Google Trends is a tool that allows you to put in, a. Series, of search terms and you can see relative, volumes, over time and, in different geographic. Locations so. Where those terms are occurring, I'm here you can see some of the trends for fishing. Charters. Just. In New South Wales across, the last five. Years so. I'd encourage, you to look at Google Trends for, your own business think, about what are those micro, moments that matter for, your, customers, and what are some of those trends over time and, even, in different geographies that are going to be interesting for you and you, can also take. A look at how. That juxtaposes. Again, some other sorts, of search, terms so that. Blue line was for fishing charters and. Then whale. Watching is overlaid, on top of that and the story of round why we have these, two is there. Was a, colleague, in the office here in Sydney who, had a friend who runs a fishing charter business, and, there, was some seasonality there and they were thinking about well what can I do in, the off season and. Someone suggested whale watching and then, to verify that they went and looked at Google Trends and wouldn't you know it it sort of overlaps, perfectly. Based. On seasonality of when, people, don't want to go on fishing charters, but they do want to do whale watching so, you can think about that for different products and services that you offer and see, how that trend happens, over time. Google. Analytics so, Google Analytics is the free, analytics. Platform, from Google you. Can by, attaching, a bit of analytics, code to the backend of your website you, can have a window, into the types of behaviors and, performance. That is happening on your website, so it's. Really. I consider, it a must-have, tool if you're serious about succeeding. In the digital economy, it's, free and it, gives you that insight, into what, are the search terms that are driving people to your website what.
Types Of content are they engaging with and what, is it what are the pages, or the experiences, that are causing them to bounce and to, leave your site and to and, to go somewhere. Else you. Can link Google Analytics, with your, AdWords account and. Get insights even deeper, insights into, how. Your ads are performing but. It will give you insight not just into, Google. Search and how Google is providing. You with traffic, but, a range, of other platforms, and technologies as. Well so. This really is a must-have, if. You're serious, about understanding. The. Value that you're getting from your digital profile. Online. So, which, of you would wait in this line yeah. Not, anyone really and. It's. The same can be said for the. Web and in particular for the mobile web so, with our phones we are incredibly. Impatient. We. Want to get information. Immediately. And, so, there, really is no point to investing, a lot of energy and potentially. Budget. Into getting ads. Or, social, media that are driving, interest in your business and. Then once people click. Through to your website and, tell you yes I want to engage. With with. Your business if the. Speed is really. Slow so. The. Reality is that. The. Average mobile. Website, in Australia, takes, 15 seconds, to load that's. Eons. In. The mobile world, we. Are just not. Patient for that at all so on, average more than half of us will, leave a website, leave a mobile. Page if it, doesn't load within 3 seconds so. We. At Google not. Me amazing. Engineers, and. Computer experts have, created a tool called test my site and the, link there is gqo slash test my site it's, linked from the, think. With Google site and many others and. What you can do is it's a it's a free tool you, put in the your. Web address and, it. Will generate a customized. Report which. Takes a look at usability. Of your site from a mobile perspective as, well, as speed, and gives you a report on what, are some of the elements the technical, elements of your website that you could think about improving, in order, to get that speed reduced. So your website will load more quickly and. You. Can if, you are, technically. Minded you, can take a look at some of those items and hopefully implement them yourself implement, them yourself. Or you, could have a conversation with, your web developer, whether, it's in-house or with an agency and, come. Up with an action plan to improve. How. Your site is is loading, really. Eye-opening I would, encourage you to to. Take a look and. Work. Out a plan to make, some improvements to how your site is loading, on a device. A, nice, accompaniment. To that in terms of information. To make your your, presence, online in your website, better. In this mobile, world. Is the. 25 principles, of mobile site design so. Essentially we. Did a huge amount of qualitative, research with. Users all around the world and had, them interact, with various. Business. Web sites across, a range of industries to, understand, what, are the features that people most engage with what, are the what are the types, of design principles that are most annoying to people and turn, them off and we've, pulled that all together from around the world and this, is a set of. Of, sort. Of recommendations. For, how you should think about. Ensuring. That your mobile, site is having. An excellent, usable. Experience. For people. So. Would recommend that one and. Some of them are are really, simple and obvious but. Until you engage with them and think about prioritizing, them for your own business just. Might not be something that you are going to to, take advantage of so I really. Probably, the most obvious one here is make sure that your call to action the thing, you want someone to do on your webpage is front. And center and it's, clear and clean and you leave no ambiguity. About, what you want someone to do you, don't have much real estate on a mobile webpage so, making that call to action blatantly. Obvious, and simple, is really. Paramount. You. Also want it to be the first thing that loads on the page so even if they don't wait they've had a chance wait for the full page to load they've had a chance to take that call to action that. You want them to take straightaway. Right. So that brings me to the end right, on time for my section, so a couple of key, takeaways and links that I'll leave, you with. So first. Up digital garage. It's. Free it covers, all the content. That I've talked about tonight and a whole lot more so. Would encourage you to to. Check it out and, then also here. Are if you want. To take a photo of probably, one slide this, is it so this has links, to a lot of the resources that I've that.
I've Just talked. Through. And. I'm sorry sorry, just making sure that out there so. That's that one so, that's my training, done but we're not done with the session so. Thank. You very much, Joe's, going to come back and walk us through the next portion of of, this evening. So. One of the aspirations. We had tonight was that you would be able to take home at, least one practical - - I am. A small business operator myself, and I came along to the digital garage session, that Richard did a few weeks ago in International Women's Day and I took home three things and I thought I'll share that with you now because I think it might be top of mind to you your. Password, for Google my business I have, four different websites and actually, my interns own the password for every one of them and I've actually I was a bit Wow so. Straightaway I know I'm the owner of all of my passwords for my group Google my business accounts, the, next thing we did was we did our mobile, testing and we went through and we found out that our our websites were poorly. Performing, so, straightaway we were able to look, at that report and straightaway - a complete, diagnostic and change our websites within a heartbeat so, I think just, those practical, tools are really, really critical and the other third one that we did was the call to action so, so many of us if you're if you're a business that actually is not mobile and you actually are spending a lot of time looking at your own website on screen you, forget of that real estate you forget that little space that sits there on a phone and certainly. Our call to action buttons were not anywhere to be seen on that first screen so, I think there are three really good tips that I would give to any business if you want to take home something because they are really valuable and why, what, Reach's focused. On this evening is he's run through basically, your, profile, how. Your profile, performs, he's actually talked about how, you search, works. He's talked about organic, search he's talked about paid search so, he's given you some some insights into how that works from a Google perspective and, lastly, he's talked through analytics, it's really critical that you understand, what your digital landscape is doing online so, we will have a little bit more of an opportunity to go through each of those without with our key speakers, but, why is all this important, you sit there and think of how important is it that I'm searchable. Well, the reality is Telstra's, thought that it would be great to actually think about this from a small business perspective but. In the eyes of the consumer, and recently. Issued, a report called. The small business enablement. Report, and what, it actually showed, is that, basically, 82% of consumers, in Australia, say they search is more, important, than anything else they do online so. Actually, going and searching for a business is critical. To 82% of consumers most, importantly, they then found out that 50%, of small, business, owners that have two to four employees in Australia do not have a website so if, your customers, are searching for. You and you don't have a website and you don't have a mobile, business. Account how are they finding you really critical pieces of information and, another. Little insight that Telstra found through this research where 62%, of consumers, won't and I'll, reiterate won't, consider. A small business if they can't find any reliable, information. Online about. Them so, that reliability comes through your own narrative through your website or through what you may put on Google my business so. There's just some little reasons why some, of this issues, around searching. And also, your profile, online are really essential so. What, we'd like to do now is actually look, at this through, two businesses, so, we'd like to give you a little bit more of, a look, and see through other people and how other people are using this platform and so, I'd like to welcome mark or NTC a very good friend of us he's, actually a chef he. Owns his business he's an author commander, Michael and we. Have had Michael come along on two occasions and this will be his third occasion, helping. Us explain, to businesses, what's, really valuable so. Michael when you started your business in. 2012. You. Kind of lonely can you tell everyone how, you began, your online journey and how. You thought when you were constructing. Your business I think, we did not start till 2013. Really. More than, 2012. Because, we didn't really understand, the whole and, as, well then it wasn't as big as it is today kind, of just in far six years the whole Instagram. Social, media Facebook, it.
Just Went totally, with. My, chef as well I understand, how to cook to, serve. Digital. Media is really. An alien, for, me and it. Took us a bit till people started calling and asking for a website and asking, for more information. For us to give them is when, we understood, we needed to take it a little bit more, and that. We took a little bit more advice from professionals, that's. How we set it up they taught us how to start. Our setup on our own how to, manage. My, Google business how to upload. Things on it and how, to kind of make. It an easier, process for us to work with so can you let everyone know what, digital tools do you have at your business's, disposal, um, Instagram. That is our biggest thing because as well with food is the. Visual you, want to see something delicious, the second you wake up in the morning and. Really that is what attracts you and I understood as well that if you post something for breakfast at night, it makes, people think about you coming for breakfast the next day and if, you want to post something for, people to come for dinner you post it in the morning because this is when they're doing their plans, for. Dinner so, you post a dinner dish in the morning and a breakfast then dish, at night very. Very. Unusual but Instagram, is is one of our biggest one Facebook. I still. Have a lot of, understanding. Around Facebook we, do a lot to do with our Google, and, we don't do any paid. Thing. To do with Google we, try to kind, of budget. Ourselves, as much as we can kind. Of trying to target our, audience, with, unlimited, budget and hospitality. We. All know the profit margins, are very low, so, you have to be very smart where you're spending your money, fantastic. So let's, walk through your. Profile. So, you've, got. 326. Google reviews that's, fantastic. Do you know that so many businesses, in Sydney don't, actually even have any reviews, if you actually don't have a if you do even have a my business Google profile. Go and check actually how many reviews you have for your own business, um you'll actually find that this is actually one of the top performers, because you're, so you're, so available I'm in this space so let's walk through that so you've got to call, to action buttons what happens when someone presses the website button where do they go Vickey or the refuse or the website yep and what about directions. How. Detailed is your website I think your website, will just recently, up. You, have to update things, with time and I think our website, now is it's pretty good, it just gives much, more information, to people easy, navigation around, and I think that, was our problem before, is our, fate. Our. Page. Was very difficult to navigate around on and click, to find things and kind, of it was more artistic. But not easy. To navigate around and, now we can understood, that it's, as much as I would love the, first photo to be the most amazing photo, it has to be easy access, for people to navigate. Around the website so buttons have to be big they, have to be displayed very easily, people. Need to find themselves very easily around especially, if people enter. Into the website to, check the menu a gallery. Of photos that kind. Of gives. An inspiration. Of is that the right place for them to go to or not. The. Menu because we all like to know what. We're eating before we're eating it's a new trend. So. Talking about photos Michael's so on your my Google, business. Account, you've actually got a, whole series of photos so, you've got ones, from your menu so is that where you have basically created, photos. Of your actual dish we, do create a lot of the photos but as well we do support, people, like, they're going into Instagram, and supporting, them when, people do ask kind. Of would you like us to put something on TripAdvisor. Because, TripAdvisor, as well is a big thing, for people to go to so. For us because. Internet. We get a lot of international, guests, to. The restaurant, and it's, an easier, platform, to kind of navigate them directly, to her, website through, Google so. This way they get to see the restaurant because we have the. 360. Degree, navigating. Around the restaurant so that gives, them an easy access to see the visual of the restaurant gives, them a visual to see the food to. Have ability, to go to the website, and. Navigate around the, whole restaurant without them. Having to look for something else and what's exciting about these features this is all through Google my business so, you can, continue, to curate. This and provide as many photos as much imagery as that you like so, it also gives an opportunity for your consumers, to.
Actually Also add, photos. Themselves so it's a really good tool. To actually have as. A part of your your Google my business platform. So just, going back to one more feature. This. One reviews. How, do you oops down here how do you deal with reviews, through Google my business I'm. Not the biggest fan of. Corresponding. With reviews, I know I need to improve at that and I become a bit better at it I do. Push. People, to do reviews, on social, media because I think it's important, that you. Do have the existence, there and people have an objective point. Of view I find. It a little bit difficult with, the whinging, platforms. Because. As well as a restaurant, you're very exposed, thing. Everybody. Has the right to say their opinion, even if, their opinion is not right. So. Like, it's, gonna highlight one more feature here, that I think is a really critical. One for those of you that are in a food and beverage industry there. Actually is also a director, and Richard can clarify this funny pops back on the stage as well there's actually a direct link through to open, table where people actually can go on and directly. Click from Google my business through. To book a table so, it's a really great feature and one of the other features that Michael was also highlighting, was, this 360. View feature so, Michael very quickly can you just tell people we can't go live at, the moment on this but can, you tell people if you go and do this at your own leisure, you can actually do similar, to what you can do through Street View so, you can actually go and explore the entire restaurant, yeah but how is this useful for you it isn't useful especially because the restaurant is divided, into two separate rooms and it's, very hard sometimes to describe, that to customers, when. We're going this is the function room and it's, the rare part of the restaurant and they expect to see a room that is kind. Of a dark room, and, that it's it's small amount of people Wow we, can send them through Google, to be able to search, droom have, a view of it see, the size of it and they can circulate around it see, all the exits, and entrances to, the, room itself and what's exciting if you got there that romantic night you can ring up and say I want the table by the window that's all. You. Do so. Again. If you go back to what the desire, of this, platform here is to do is the consumer experience so, this gives you those little tools and features to, be able to to feature and to promote what your business you'd, like to portray to the consumer so it's a great little feature it's got lots of little things in there so I thank, you so much Michael for showing that so you can see you're here on stage with us thank. You so much for sharing that with us. So. I've got a little video of, our next guest to show you a little bit more about her business Leona, Watson is from, cheeky, food events and I actually won't say too much more yet, because I really think the, next, movie tells.
A Lot about who you are so, let's watch it now. I'm. Leona Watson and I have a company called shaky food events, and we do team-building. Cooking activities for corporates all around Australia, they. Arrive as individuals. But they leave as a happy, smiling way, more productive team. So. I used to cook in the Whitsunday, Islands on a yacht and I realize just how cooking, and food brought people together and, I just want to take that magic into the corporate world because it's tough there when. I first started cheeky food events the most difficult aspects, of marketing was the risk and the time lag as opposed, to now with Google AdWords, where it's very quick its nimble you can turn it off turn it on budget, it out really easily I first. Started using Google AdWords, eight years ago and it was just love, at first sight, because, I, knew exactly what my return on investment, was and you got the results really quite quickly so, I get really good information on, when people are looking for my services, and that's when I invest my marketing budget we. Have to make sure that we're there when, our customers, are looking and if we're not there it's likely, our competitors. Are there and you never liked that. Google. AdWords accounts, for 60% of our new business, because. I'm getting the results it frees me up to go out and spend more time doing what I love in the business which is doing the events, doing product development so. The business just keeps growing it's great. Come, on Delia so, welcome to the stage. Not. Honor not, only is Leona a powerhouse, and actually running events she actually loves to run a really good party so I think it's fair to say that your business translates, exactly, to who you are so, I'm gonna we might Richard to join us back on the stage as well because we'd now like to start. Going through with Richard a little bit more about how both of these businesses use the Google platform why are we just coming to the stage nooner can you share with everyone how, you think, your digital presence has transformed, your business oh. That. 500 percent round and round and round and over and over again so, back. When I was you know first starting, was it was all about you, know you're pushing out ads you're, spending your money now and as. Everyone who knows in the room it's all about cash flow and the second you put some money out but SMO you're not using for marketing, it's money you're not using for something else so. You, would spend money on say ads or. Inserts, whatever, and, then you might not get your results, for two three four months but you've already committed the money out front so that was a major thing just a cash flow point of view and cash is, everything. In those first few years in fact it's everything thereafter. In all honesty. But. What, what's changed so much for digital is the the immediacy, of, getting. Some results and then the, speed of, so. When someone's, looking and, making, sure that I'm there when someone's, looking and, then. Being, able to get you, know talk with them really quickly because they've got to us really quickly and then. You. Can actually fast-track, through the you. Know the whole proposal process, to actually getting a sale so I'm quite different, because we're both whilst are both in food your. Multiple. Multiple transactions. Smaller dollar value and your profit margins are different whereas, mine are you, know I might only do say 20 events a month but, my dollar value per event is really high so I'm no different to say someone putting in pools for example, where. You. Might only do 10 pools a month as, opposed to doing you know 500 you know covers a week no yeah so.
The Dollars is the really key thing to really look out there and just how I've looked at that as a business, as, changed, its. Its enormous what, it can actually do to your, business it's so so, Richard can you talk. Us through from your perspective, what, the biggest differences, are between these two businesses and, how they're using the different products yep, so I, think they, you. Know start with the similarity, they. Want to get the right customers, through. The door and. An
2018-03-31 05:15
