How Google’s New Website Design Tool Works

Are you in charge of a small business that badly needs an online presence, but consistently intimidated by web design and other elements of online marketing? Your situation just got a whole lot easier with the announcement that Google is rolling out a new tool for small businesses to build their own websites.

Known simply as “Website,” this new tool can offer a major boost to small business owners looking to improve internet marketing efforts. Let’s look at the basics.

Basic Numbers and Qualifications

According to Google’s figures, 60 percent of small businesses around the world do not have their own website. That means that over half the small businesses on earth are missing out on what’s quickly becoming the most valuable form of advertising and exposure out there. With “Website,” however, that can change in an instant – it’s completely free, and will allow for extremely simple website edits and updates within minutes from both desktops and mobile devices.

Website is an extension of Google My Business, so you will need to have a GMB listing already filled out to use it. If this is the case, Google will automatically pull the information from your listing to create the website, and then you’ll have the option to customize it from there.

Website Design Steps

The steps of designing a website with this new tool are simple:

• Sign in to Google My Business, click “Manage Location,” and then select Website from the manu.
• Follow screen instructions, and when you’re satisfied with the build, you can publish the new site.
• Domain structures will be standardized, but you can purchase a customized domain from the Settings menu in your account and Google will automatically connect it.
• After publishing the site, updates are as easy as updating your GMB listing. Any updates to the GMB listing will automatically be applied to the website.

Limitations and Trade-Offs

Google’s website builder lacks many of the features you’d expect from a more robust (and expensive) system, but this is the trade-off that comes with a free tool like this. Website is also user-friendly, and comes with free hosting, which is a big deal for many smaller businesses.

To learn more about Google updates or any of our other online marketing services, speak to the pros at SEO Werkz today.