SMB Newbie Hangouts on Air: Optimizing your account to generate sales

Editor's note: This is our third post in a series on SMB Newbie Hangouts on Air, where experts on the AdWords support team are hosting short Hangouts on Air to walk SMBs through AdWords-related topics. Here on the Google and Your Business Blog, we'll be providing a wrap-up of the Hangouts. This particular post is cross-published from the AdWords Google+ page. 

AdWords Specialists Will Lindemann, Kaylyn Frazier, and Chad Baranik hosted a Hangout on Air last week as the third installment of the SMB Newbie Hangouts on Air series.

During the Hangout, we talked about using negative keywords to ensure your ad only shows to users looking to purchase. To grab the attention of those users looking to buy, we showed you how to optimize your ad text and expand your ad with extensions like sitelinks. To further differentiate yourself in the marketplace, we also talked about video ads and product listing ads and how you can use those more advanced formats to drive users to purchase on your site.

You can watch the full 30-minute Hangout on Air from the Google and Your Business YouTube channel here:

To learn more about how to get started with AdWords, visit our Help Center, check out the AdWords Community forum, or call us at 866-2-GOOGLE if you already have an AdWords account.

And remember to tune in to the live stream of our next Hangout on Air at 11 a.m. PDT, Thursday, September 27, when we discuss how to optimize your account to generate phone traffic. Stay tuned!

Posted by Courtney Pannell and Will Lindemann, AdWords Team

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Social that Adds Up: Performance and Measurement

Cross-posted from the Google Analytics Blog

Join us for a webinar Tuesday, September 18th 11am PT, in partnership with Hootsuite, to learn how we can make better decisions based on performance metrics of social networks using Google Analytics social reports. Register today, it’s open to everyone!

Adam Singer, the Product Marketing Manager for Google Analytics, will go beyond the current social metrics of followers, +1’s, likes and others, to discuss the true impact your social media is making on your brand’s bottom line. We often are asked about how businesses can measure their social media and how they can capture the value they create for their consumers. Many of our current metrics allow us to measure the reach of our message, but not necessarily the ROI. What impact does social have on a company’s performance? Learn how to connect visits to your social pages all the way through to a sale or conversion on your website. It’s time to prove the value of social media with the right measurement metrics.

You’ll also learn how social media can actually influence other media performance and drive conversions. When you verify your Google+ Page, Google may show more endorsements for your business from your customers and supporters within the search results page. This can raise the social awareness of your business and increase its relevance. Because 77% of US consumers trust recommendations from their social media connections more than any other media source, seeing a +1, can help them make a purchase decision. On average, search ads with annotations have a 5-10% uplift in clickthrough rate. Some of our advertisers have seen even higher uplifts, H&M achieved 22% uplift, Cadbury achieved 17% uplift and Laterooms.com achieved a 9% uplift in clickthrough rates on their search ads.

Start measuring the value you’re creating through your social media campaigns!

 Sources: Google Research 2012; Google internal data 

  Posted by the Google Analytics Team

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Building your business online: Advice from the start-up community

Recently, Google took part in the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce's (NGLCC) annual Business & Leadership Conference in Chicago. Our involvement was focused on supporting the start-up community and helping small- to medium-sized businesses understand how to use the web to grow. At the event, entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to a panel of experts, including Google’s John Burchett, Director, Public Policy - US States and Local, Latin America and Canada, who gave feedback on how to get their ideas off the ground.

While each business and entrepreneur is unique, here are some general tips for entrepreneurs from John Burchett after the event:

If you can do humor well, do it. The winning team had a very down-to-earth charming video introducing themselves and their product. It really made you root for them. The thing that I was generally most critical about was the tendency of all of the contestants to oversell their product and the world-changing nature of them. Grandiose claims just make me skeptical. Stick to the new, interesting innovation that they provide, but don't overhype. The worst thing is to have the 'infomercial' aroma.

We also asked participating entrepreneurs Michael McCarthy (BudiBar, a focus-enhancing energy bar), Joe Cote (Capsule Pen, a pen-shaped pill case), and Jim Hohl (Tasklite, a project management software for teams) to weigh in on their experience, and share some advice for other entrepreneurs starting on their own business journeys:

What was the most valuable piece of advice you took away from the panel?

Joe Cote: The most valuable piece of advice that we took away from the panel was that when presenting our product, too much is too much! Since receiving this advice we have narrowed our focus and zeroed in on the exact models that will have the most traction in the market, and plan to let other features and design ideas come to the forefront over time.

Michael McCarthy: The most valuable piece of advice was to remove a selling point that people didn't believe to be true, regardless of it being true or not. Instead, focus on what they do believe and you maintain customer trust.

What advice would you give to other new entrepreneurs?

Jim Hohl: Take advantage of the vast pool of free and low cost resources that are available to you from Google and others, for one thing. For another, be sure you are ready for the plunge because it's a full time job with no salary, no benefits and unlimited working hours - if you don't have a cushion, it can be a bumpy ride. And finally, be fully committed to your vision but remain receptive to criticism. I've learned a lot by listening, even when it was something I didn't want to hear.

Michael McCarthy: Make sure you have a huge passion for what you're doing and make sure that passion is not money. Passion is the fuel that will get you through the ups and downs. Also keep a good set of friends nearby who will listen to your panic, soothe your fears, and celebrate your successes.

Posted by Brandon Feldman, Accelerate with Google team

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Manage your business on-the-go with Google Drive app updates

Editor's note: Google Drive is a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. From spreadsheets of orders to meeting notes, Google Drive lets you manage all your business files in one place. Now you can do even more with updates to the Google Drive mobile app. This post is cross-published from the Google Official Blog. 

Every day, more and more people are choosing to live online and get things done in the cloud. Helping to make this experience as seamless as possible, Google Drive is one place where you can create, share and keep all your stuff. Drive is available on the web, as well as Mac, Windows and Android and iOS.

Updates for iOS 
Starting today, if you’re using the Drive app on your iOS device you can also edit Google documents, just as you can with the Android app. From your iPhone or iPad, you can create a new document, edit an existing one or format text. And, just like on your computer, you’ll be able to see other people’s edits instantly as they’re made.

You’ll also notice other new improvements to the iOS Drive app. For example, you can now view Google presentations on your iPhone or iPad, including speaker notes, full-screen mode and the ability to swipe between slides. You can also create new folders, move files into folders and upload stuff (like photos and videos) from your device directly in the Drive app.

Updates for Android 
We’re also updating the Drive app for Android phones and tablets today. You can now add comments, reply to existing comments and view tables in your Google documents. And you’ll have the same new abilities to view presentations and organize your stuff as your friends with iPhones do.

More to come... 
Looking ahead, we have plenty more planned for the Drive mobile apps—including native editing and real-time collaboration for Google spreadsheets. Stay tuned.

Get Drive in the App Store for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and visit the Play Store to get the latest on your Android phone or tablet. To learn more about Google Drive, visit drive.google.com/start.

Posted by Anil Sabharwal, Senior Product Manager

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Help Desk Hangouts: Visual Storytelling with Google for Nonprofits

Editor’s note: Each week on the Google+ Your Business page, we’re putting you in touch with Googlers and users who can help you as a business owner get the most out of our products and features.

In our latest Help Desk Hangout On Air, we chatted with the +Google for Nonprofits team about using visual storytelling to create great social content. We talked about using different types of visual content on Google+, from photos to videos to maps. The Google for Nonprofits team shared some of their tips, tricks, and wisdom about managing a successful and engaging Google+ page, and we talked about some of our own strategies for the Google+ Your Business page, too.

Miss the event? You can watch the whole thing on the Google and Your Business YouTube channel.

Check out the video description on the YouTube page for a minute-by-minute breakdown.

Some of the questions we answered during the Hangout:
Where can I find some resources business or nonprofits can use to create compelling visuals, like maps?
We’ve posted resources on our page last month and continue to do so. Our video tutorials can be found here.

What strategies and kinds of posts do you find to be successful on the Google for Nonprofits page?
Posts where we ask our community about themselves and their organizations tend to get a lot of engagement. We try to incorporate questions and opportunities for discussion in our posts every week. We also try to build momentum around a certain theme in our posts for example about a certain product or holidays or season.

Help Desk Hangouts are hosted on the Google+ Your Business page every other Wednesday. Don’t miss our next Hangout at 11a.m. PDT on Wednesday, September 19. Look for the topic announcement on the Google+ Your Business page.

 Posted by Jade Wang, Google+ Local Community Manager

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A Second Slice of Social Media with King Arthur Flour

Earlier this year, we highlighted King Arthur Flour's presence on Google+ and shared tips and tricks for small businesses to manage a great page. The 220-year-old company in Vermont keeps their flours classic but their online presence modern, using Google products like AdWords, Analytics, and YouTube.

Here's an excerpt from our previous case study:

Meet King Arthur Flour, America’s oldest flour company. Founded in 1790, King Arthur Flour is now an employee-owned company that offers everything from baking products to educational baking programs—all with the mission to “inspire, educate and bake.” PJ Hamel, King Arthur Flour’s resident writer, shows how Google+ helps the company share the joy of baking with people all around the world. Read More...

We're happy to share that they are opening a new facility — and they've put up an invite on Google+. If you're in the area, drop by and let us know how good it smells. Yum!

Posted by the Google and Your Business Blog team

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Google's solutions fit the bill for Fashion Week businesses

Digital Media Rules the Runway at Fashion Week
For anyone with a passion for fashion, the most exciting week of the year is here: New York Fashion Week. But while the runway shows at the tents in Lincoln Center are still filled mostly with fashion buyers, bloggers and celebrities, with YouTube and Google+, businesses can grant everyone front row access right from their desktop, mobile phone or tablet:

• More than 30 fashion shows are streaming live on the YouTube Live from the Runway channel, sponsored by Maybelline, giving you front row access from your living room.
• Lucky Magazine’s Fashion Week Photowalk: +LuckyMagazine is hosting a Fashion Week photowalk. All week long, bloggers, designers and Lucky editors will be uploading exclusive, behind-the-scenes photos. You can add this public Google+ Event to your calendar.
• On September 7th, +TeenVogue Director +EvaChen212, and LYST are hosting an exclusive pre-show Hangout with designer Rebecca Minkoff on LYST’s page.
• Paris Vogue Fashion’s Night Out: +VogueParis will be posting “Live-GIFs” of the event on their +Page, where notable guests, models and VIPs will have their images turned into GIFs, ready to be shared across the web. This is in addition to their 3H YouTube live broadcast, available on the Vogue Paris YouTube Channel or on www.vogue.fr.

Searching for style
People are also turning to search to help them keep up with their passion for fashion. It’s perhaps no surprise that searches for [fashion week] are highest in New York City, but interest in the event comes from all over the country:

• Young designers aspiring to make their fashion week debut are hitting the books. Searches for [fashion class] are up 10% in the last month, with most searches coming from California, while searches for [fashion school] are up 60% and highest in New Jersey. [SIDE NOTE: searches for fashion class are also up 15% year over year, fashion school up 10% year over year]
• Fashion Week is about walking the walk. The nation’s next top model might from from North Carolina. Folks there searched for [modeling school] more than any other state this year, with searches jumping 35% in the last month.
• Everyone wants to look top-notch for the runway, or rather, to watch the runway. Searches for [what to wear to a fashion show] have doubled in the past month. What’s the trendiest state? Folks from Illinois searched for [fall fashion trends] more often than those in any other in the past month. Searches have grown 60% in the last month.
• Searches for [fashion week schedule] up 140% in the past month. Searches for [fashion designers] up 20% in the past month.

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