Google UK has launched a new scheme offering commercial property businesses advice and support to maximise their Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
The new three month pilot scheme will teach 1,500 commercial property businesses in Merseyside how to ‘build a website in 15 minutes’ and free access to one-on-one digital support. If the scheme is triumph, then the Getting Liverpool Business Online Scheme may be rolled out to other parts of Britain.
Matt Brittin, the managing director of Google UK expressed his delight in the new scheme, saying “small commercial properties using the web are growing four times faster, they are exporting twice as much as others and their e-commerce sales are growing faster than big commercial properties.” He went onto add that “many of the commercial properties that had not launched online were put off because they thought the internet is to ‘complicated, technical, expensive or not relevant to them.’
He further added “What we’re trying to do now is go a bit deeper, to try to understand what businesses are doing and how best to aid their growth. We’re coming to spend a significant amount of time working with people in a community and helping people make the most of the internet. It’s all about developing the ecosystem. We care about the internets potential to do well and we think that if we can make it a better place for commercial properties and consumers, the rest will follow. “
Across the North-West region, software developers will also be invited to work closely with Google staff, as the internet giant will be supporting a new technology hub, ‘DoES Liverpool.’
Raja Saggi, head of small business initiatives for Google UK, says “The internet has created huge opportunities, but many business owners feel they don’t have the expertise they need to help their commercial properties businesses grow online.
This is the first time we have ever run a series of events aimed at helping one city, and we’ll be working hard with our partners to make a real difference to Liverpool’s internet economy over the coming months.”
There were many reasons as to why Liverpool’s commercial property businesses, in particular were chosen to test out the new pilot scheme. Mr. Saggi further added “With Liverpool’s strong business networks and sense of community, we believe this is the best city to run such an initiative”, he said.
Google’s three-month programme has begun with a launch event in the Baltic Triangle area. Following on from this, there will be a succession of follow-up workshops in Aintree, Birkenhead Liverpool city centre, St Helens, and Speke.
In addition to this, a Google ‘juice bar’ will travel around Liverpool offering “digital health checks”.
Following allegations that Google has become too powerful and rapacious, the search engine giant is launching a range of initiatives to shake of the image with Google chairman Eric Schmidt even declaring that the company ‘loved Britain’.
It will be interesting to see how the scheme develops and if it is successful in Liverpool, and whether Google will be true to their word and offer their advice to other small commercial properties businesses across the UK.
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