As part of Small Business Week (May 5-11), the Division of Small Business held a workshop on how small business owners can use Google to grow their online presence and increase revenue.

About thirty small business owners attended the event at Del Tech’s Terry Campus in Dover.

Online marketing expert Kim Palmer, of Miles Partnership, told the audience about the importance of claiming your business’s listing because it is what Google uses in all of its products.

The listing can be found on the right side of the Google search results for your location on desktops.

Once you’ve claimed your business, here are some of the tips Palmer shared that will help you get the best results when people get your listing from a search:

• Make sure your business profile is engaging, accurate and informative.
• The listing should include a description of the services the business offers or the goods it sells.
• Include your website address, phone number and up-to-date business hours.
• Get favorable reviews from satisfied customers, and put up engaging photos of the business.
• Google prefers photos that show what the business looks like and don’t include people.
• Make sure the lighting in the photo is good and avoid adding text or using filters.
• Posts are a free and easy way to further increase the amount of real estate your business’s listing takes up on a results page.

Palmer said working on your Google listing would be 15 of the most valuable minutes you could possibly spend on marketing for your business online.