Google lands at CONEL to Help Small Businesses in Haringey

David Lammy welcomed Google to the borough and applauded their initiative to help small businesses

The Google mother-ship landed at CONEL this morning for an event to help small businesses in Haringey use digital tools.

David Lammy kicked off proceedings with a warm welcome to Google. He applauded the company's "Getting British Business Online" initiative and welcomed the support they were offering to local businesses in Haringey.

According to Google, SMEs with a high web presence grow four times faster than those without. So getting the web right can very literally mean the difference between success and failure for small businesses.

To get us all headed in the right direction, the Google team addressed key areas for small businesses to focus on. 

They began with websites and offered ten top Google tips for building successful websites. One of the tips stressed the importance of photographs and images being of high quality. (If your website's images aren't up to scratch and you're interested in moving things up a notch with some original photography, let me know. I may be able to help. )

Other key issues covered included search engine optimisation, the use of social media and getting to grips with targeting your online audience.

(I was the very soul of discretion and kept absolutely mum about how effective small businesses find HoL as a tool to increase awareness of what they do!)

All the small businesses that attended seemed to find the morning very useful. Emma, one of the may attendees who'd learned about the event through HoL told me. "I thought I understood how to use Keywords, but this made me realise how little I knew. It was a really useful morning." 

Whilst there are no immediate plans to run a further event, Google will publicise any new dates through David Lammy's office - and they, no doubt, will post on Google.