National Small Business week is May 6-10 and we are hosting an exciting Google Livestream: Drive Business Results with Google Ads on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 11 a.m. CDT. This is part of the Grow with Google series.
What local businesses can expect from the livestream:
Real-time guidance from Google experts
Details on different advertising campaign types
Instructions on how to increase leads, sales, and brand awareness
How-tos for first-time users on choosing goals and measuring success
And our team will be on hand to answer any questions, or talk further about our services as well.
Google recently came out with some interesting consumer insights of 2018 that all business should be aware of for 2019. While there are so many various articles on consumer insights, we will break it down into the ones you need to pay attention to in this year.
Always Shopping
Did you know that 84% of Americans are shopping for something at any given time, in up to six different categories. In fact, minutes before I started writing this blog, my favorite pen ran out of ink, and I immediately opened my browser to go to an office supply store and order a new box.
Also consider that in nearly one quarter of those shopping occasions, shoppers say they turn to their smartphone first. And nearly 9 out of 10 shoppers are not absolutely sure of the brand they want to buy when they are first looking for information on their smartphones, marketers who make the research process easier can be big winners.
What does this mean? It means being present and useful to shoppers along every touch point.
Nearby and Now
Customers want not only places but specific things near them and available now. In fact, “Near me” mobile searches that contain the variant “can I buy” or “to buy” have grown over 500% over the last two years. In addition, there has been a 200% growth in mobile searches for “open” + “now” + “near me.”
Things like having your inventory of products listed on your website, along with your hours. And don’t forget your My Business listing on Google complete with your hours.
More Research = Fewer Regrets
It isn’t always about buying things. Search can be used to find good or great experiences as well. People want to curate their experience before they go whether it is a vacation or dinner out.
In fact, the research is part of the process and helps to build anticipation before they leave their house. It also helps to reduce anxiety by working out details like prices, maps, parking, schedules, etc. One person Google spoke to directly said “I wanted to research so I wouldn’t have regrets.”
Look-Alikes
Shoppers are not letting price stop them. If they item they want is out of their price range, they are willing to look for something very similar but lowered prices. Mobile searches for “that looks like” grew by 60% in the past two years.
Voice Activated Speakers
A hot holiday item this past year was voice-activated speaker devices. In a recent Google survey of over 1,500 people, it was found that parents are power users and Boomers see the devices as “empowering companions” with potential.
For marketers, users who own these devices welcome brands as part of the experience. Users like to receive information on brands and products that are important to them, but also to order and receive those products.
As you head into Q2 of 2019, take these insights into consideration as you plan updates to your products, websites and marketing. Here is to a successful 2019!
While it has been many, many years since mobile has taken over so many parts of our life, including searching, visiting and purchasing from websites. Google has reinvested into the success of brands through mobile and introduced new updates, or what they are calling a “top-to-bototm rebuild” of Test My Site.
As we know, mobile needs to be fast. It is something the big brands have invested heavily into. And according to The State of Online Retail Performance, as little as a one-second delay in mobile load times can impact conversion rate by up to 20%.
Google created the Test My Site tool back in 2016, in order for any business to test the speed of mobile pages and receive recommendations on how to fix the speed. However, it can’t just stop there. Mobile continues to evolve, and therefor Google has evolved its tool.
Google announced today, with the new Test My Site you can now see:
The speed of both your entire site and of individual pages
Whether your site/page speed is faster or slower compared to the prior month
Whether your site speed/page speed ranks Fast, Average, or Slow
How your site speed compares to others in the industry
The potential impact of site speed on revenue
A detailed list of recommended fixes to increase speed on up to 5 pages on their site
Apparently when I said last week winter was coming, I really had no idea what was coming! The Chicagoland area is in for the coldest temperatures in 25 years. Ironically, I’m also old enough to remember 25 years ago, and it was COLD!
Two days below zero, with Wednesday set to tie or possibly be the coldest temperature recorded in the Chicagoland area.
There is a good chance many businesses in the area may be closed and employees working from home if possible. If this is the case, I highly suggest updating your Google My Business page using the “Add special hours” option.
You will find the “Add special hours” under the “Info” section in the main navigation of the Google My Business page.
Add special hours under Info in the main navigation.You can enter in different hours of opening or closing, or mark the whole day as closed.
Now that you have updated your hours, sit back, drink hot chocolate and stay warm! Please stay safe in this deep freeze!
Click Blooms specializes in ppc/paid search for small, local and start-up businesses. Click Blooms believes in making business bloom. We believe, just like a flower, every business has unlimited potential.
