Last month saw the launch of Google for Small Business. The new portal aims to help small businesses grow by putting at their fingertips the necessary tools, products, and services to make the most of online commerce.
The hub for marketers has been developed based on feedback received from small business owners. It offers SMBs personalised plans for businesses based on what they want to achieve. There are also in-person workshops as well as updates on new tools and services focused on small businesses.
With the information provided to Google, it will give businesses a list of actions, such as launching ad campaigns, increasing online presence, or installing Google analytics.
In a blog post, Kim Spalding, a product management director at Google, said SMEs need help saving time at work, or that they need easy tools to help them promote their business.
“The internet has created new opportunities for small businesses, but it can be hard to know where to start,” Spalding said
James Carroll, partner and director at TetraVX, told UC Today that while this is an important step for small businesses and consolidates Google’s product line-up in an easily digestible format, it doesn’t provide any new products that weren’t previously accessible to small businesses.
“What this platform does do is makes it easier for small business owners to determine which Google solutions are right for their business type and business goals. This means an easier way for business owners to manage their online presence and more accurate data and communication channels for customers to reach small businesses,” he said.
Carroll argued that small businesses would be better served by ensuring internal communications were improved.
“Efficient internal communications is a 50/50 split between process and technology. Setting internal processes and standards on how and when to use certain communication channels is important for making sure the technology is used as effectively as possible,” he said.
He said that features such as mobility, video conferencing and persistent messaging may be extremely vital to how your business works, while others may still require internet fax and physical desk phones.
“It’s important to understand how your business needs to function before deploying a technology solution. This ensures that the solution you’ve deployed aligns with your operations, ultimately leading to a better ROI on that tool”
Google for Small Business showed the growing importance of cloud and the internet as a means to find technological solutions that best fit small business needs. Unified communications-as-a-Service, like most cloud-based technologies, has a major endearing quality for SMBs in particular – the ability to remove IT administration from their day to day responsibilities while still benefiting from enterprise grade technology.
“This allows SMBs to spend more time focusing on their business, their products, and their customers. By simplifying the acquisition and deployment of IT technology like UCaaS, business operations can get up and running faster,” added Carroll.
