Google releases initiative to increase small business visibility

If you’re struggling with search engine results visibility for your small business, you’re not alone. Google has recognized this common grievance in small businesses and recently released an initiative to help small businesses gain more visibility in search engine result pages, or more specifically, Google results pages.

The program, called Let’s Put Our Cities on the Map, aims to help all businesses in cities across the United States gain coveted positions in results pages and be recognizes for their products and services. Most business owners already recognize the need for SEO and apply keywords to their websites in order to appear higher in search results. Effective SEO will not just push your company up higher in results pages, but will also result in increased traffic, which ultimately leads to increased revenue and engagement with regular customers as well as prospective customers.

As a part of the new program, Google created web pages for almost every town and city in the United States, equaling 30,000 custom websites. The websites teach small business owners how to create and maintain their own Google My Business listing, and how they can improve their current websites to increase visibility and traffic, tools that are priceless among small business owners and entrepreneurs who might not be as knowledge about SEO.

The head of marketing for Google’s Get Your Business Online Program said Google’s intention is to make it easier for businesses to get their brand online, especially local companies and small businesses.

The program also allows local companies to utilize a new diagnostic tool that allows them to see how their company will appear to others when searching or using Google Maps. In addition, Google provides these businesses with the ability to have their page verified in search queries. Businesses are also given the tools to add photos, hours of operation, and locations to their Google listings.

If not already utilized, Google also offers businesses the opportunity to secure a website and domain name from Google’s partner, StartLogic, free of charge for one year.

Google also put into place workshops in respective cities in order to train locals about business growth in connection win the Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Development centers, and SCORE chapters. The workshops will also be hosted and taught by Google employees so that said workshops can continue and be maintained by communities once Google employees leave each city after the program’s rollout.