WORKSHOP: Can Customers Find You on Google?

I look at this map with Google results, and I wonder why there aren't any Ladner businesses listed beside it. The search entered was repair car in ladner, bc . We certainly have local repair shops that mechanically fix cars as well as others that do body work for vehicles. So why aren’t they listed beside the map?

This is precisely what you will learn in Netclimber’s new hands-on workshop.

Can Customers Find you on Google Workshop

During the last few months Google has changed the way they return business results to the searching public. This has created a huge opportunity for local businesses.

Posted From Google - Official post (April 20th) regarding this opportunity

Netclimber Web Design has created a new hands-on workshop – Can Customers Find you on Google to enable you to take advantage of this opportunity.

Through this 3-hour workshop you will learn 3 distinct strategies to increase your business presence on the internet. In the hands-on portion of the session, you will be guided through the creation of a professionally optimized Google listing.

The Workshop

1. Introduction to the Internet, Local Search and Google
2. Breakout Groups (All participants will attend both breakout groups during the workshop)
   a)  Create professionally optimized Google Local Listing (hands-on session)
   b)  Search Engine Optimization & Internet Advertising/Marketing (lecture /demo session)
3. Question & Answer Period

Why?

Why should I attend this workshop? Have you ever asked yourself any of the following questions?

• How does Google find what you are searching for?
• Why should I have a web site if I don’t sell products online?
• What are my customers looking for on the internet?
• How do I automatically customize my business information to display on hand-held devices (iPhones, blackberries, smart phones).
• Is there cost effective advertising available on the internet?
• Why do my competitors appear on Google, when my website does not?

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and/or quality of visits to your website. The theory is that higher ranking your site is on search engine results, the greater opportunity you have for more people to find your site. SEO involves consideration for how search engines work in combination with what people search for and what you have to offer. Optimizing a website involves editing its content and source code to increase its relevance to specific search terms and to remove barriers to search engines.

What is Internet Advertising/Marketing?

In the past and perhaps currently, you would have advertised/marketed your business using traditional media such as newspapers, printed business directories (Yellow Pages), radio, TV etc. Internet Advertising/Marketing increases your business’s visibility online, and gets you noticed by your prospective clients and buyers. There are many different ways to advertise on the Internet including Google Adwords, Bing (Microsoft), Yahoo Search Marketing, Facebook and even Craigslist. This workshop will briefly introduce you to these opportunities.

Disconnect

As a business community, we have entered an era where there is a gigantic disconnect between what the searching public is looking for and what traditional businesses are telling them. More and more of your customers are using the internet for their first line of contact with your business. The search could be as simple as looking up your phone number or address. They want to see where you are located? They want to call to ask a question. They might also be researching or investigating products or services that you provide. Approximately, 90% of the buying public conducts research online before entering a store front, but less than half of businesses have an internet presence to be found online.

The next phase of searching the internet is coming at us like a tsunami. The new wave of the buying public is carrying the internet in their pocket. No need to find that computer or laptop to figure out where to find the latest electronic gadget or sushi restaurant. They enter their search into their iPhone or Blackberry, tap their phone to call the business, then enter the address into their GPS and off they go to purchase what they are looking for. Talk about capturing the customer when they are ready to buy.

Without an internet presence, you have lost the opportunity to connect with these customers.

Footnote

1) The Great Divide – this is a survey conducted in 2008 of 4,000 US internet users on the tools they used to find local businesses from which to purchase product and services in the last 90 days. As you read through this material it becomes very apparent that customers are using the internet more and more. They are using the hard copy mediums (yellow pages, newspapers, magazines, etc.) less and less. In Canada we have adopted internet trends (per capita) much quicker than the US. So if this survey was conducted in Canada, I’m sure most would agree that the disconnect would be even larger.

Workshop Details

Here is the Google Map link to the Education Centre if you are not familiar with its location.

Course Fee: $139.00+HST

**NOTE: There is a Registration Cut-off date due to the pre-course work that needs to be completed before you attend the workshop.