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There are 28 million small businesses in the US, and small businesses represent almost half of US private-sector jobs. What kind of support and resources does our government provide to make sure these small businesses thrive? Where can we find tips on how to start or grow a business? What funding opportunities are there? On Wednesday, August 27th, the leader of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice of small business in President Obama’s Cabinet, Maria Contreras-Sweet , will join the Google Small Business Community for a Hangout on Air to share tips and insights for small businesses. Since being appointed by President Obama, Administrator Contreras-Sweet has made a priority to meet and hear from small businesses. On Wednesday, she will answer questions directly from small businesses through Hangouts. Over the past two weeks, thousands of small business owners from all over the US, representing various backgrounds, experiences, and businesses, have submitted quest...

When’s the last time you checked out what your customers are saying about your business on the web? With Google My Business, you can see and respond to reviews from Google users. You’ll also be able to see feedback that customers have left on other websites. The first step to seeing and responding to reviews is to verify your business . Once your business is verified, visit the Google My Business dashboard , scroll down, and click Manage Reviews . For the best experience with reviews: Encourage your customers to leave feedback on Google . Reviews on Google can help your business stand out from sites with fewer reviews.  Respond to reviews . Your customers will notice that your business values their input and respond with more reviews.  Keep it clean . We’ll remove reviews and responses on Google that contain advertising, spam, and other stuff that violates our policies .  With Reviews, you’ll hear firsthand feedback from the people who matter most to your business: your c...

With the launch of Google My Business , we’ll be exploring new ways to build a strong online presence for your local business. For this post, we’ll be focusing on using Google My Business to see how your business performs on the web. Have you ever wondered how many customers search for your business on Google Maps or whether your customers are seeing that photo you uploaded last week? Google My Business makes it easy to find valuable information about your local business on Google, including: The number of times people saw your business information show up on Google Maps, Search and Maps for Mobile  The areas from which users have searched for driving directions to your business using Google Maps  The number of impressions of your Google+ photos, profile, posts  To access Insights, open Google My Business, choose the page you’d like to manage, and click View Insights . Insights are another good reason to verify your local business--you won’t be able to see the data withou...