Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Google has introduced Local Service Ads to boost the visibility of independent professionals online.
The Local Service Ads helps people to discover and contact local and trustworthy professionals who are backed by the Google Guarantee badge. This means that potential customers can see the professional’s licence information and reviews from previous customers – from there, they can compare and contact the professionals.
The best thing for small businesses is that they don’t even need a website to use these ads and will only pay if they’re contacted by a customer, though there’s no charge from people clicking the ad. According to 2019 YouGov research, around a third of small businesses in six European countries surveyed don’t have a website.
>See also: How to get your small business online within an hour
Searches containing ‘available near me’ have doubled around the world. In the first half of 2020, searches for local services including maintenance and home improvements, increased by over 25 per cent in a year across a range of European countries.
Businesses can also use Google’s Shopping tab
It’s now free for retailers to list their products on the Shopping tab. Available globally in mid-October, search results on the