Google Launches Program for Ohio Small Businesses to Eliminate High Costs of Launching a Web site and Gaining an Online Presence

This week Google launched its Ohio Get Your Business Online program. Working with local partners throughout Ohio, including the Small Business Development Centers, the Center for Entrepreneurship at Fisher College of Business, TechColumbus and others, Google designed the program to help drive economic growth by giving Ohio businesses free access to the tools and resources needed to establish a Web site, find new customers and grow their businesses.

While 97 percent of Americans look online for local products and services, 50 percent of Ohio small businesses do not have an online presence. The perception that getting online is complex, costly and time-consuming has prevented many small businesses from taking the first step.

Ohio Get Your Business Online is an easy and fast way for Ohio businesses to get a site. Google is partnering with Intuit to provide its popular Intuit Web sites offerings for free, including an easy-to-build Web site, a customized domain name and hosting for one year. Participating Ohio businesses also receive a local business listing on Google Places and free tools, training and resources to succeed online.

Businesses can either get online through www.OhioGetOnline.com, or in person through a series of Google-hosted events throughout the state.

The first of these events were held this week in Central Ohio on Tuesday, September 27 and Wednesday, September 28.  Subsequent events will be held across the state: Lima on September 29; Bowling Green on September 30; Dayton on October 4; Cincinnati on October 5.

For more details, see the release: 
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/websites-now-free-for-ohio-businesses-130627518.html