Google to Give Free Websites to Canadian Businesses

Written BY: Kristin Craik

Google is helping Canadian businesses get their online presence. Launching the Canada Get Your Business Online program, Google will provide free websites with .ca domain.

An estimated 1.2 million businesses in Canada do not have a website. Reasons companies lack an online presence range from cost to complication. Google is trying to combat these opinions with the Canada Get Your Business Online program.

"Canada's small business owners know the power of the Internet, because they use it every day as consumers; yet many are hesitant to create their own web presence," says Chris O'Neill, managing director of Google Canada, in a statement. "These businesses are missing out on incredible opportunities that can help them realize significant profit growth."

According to Statistics Canada, 80 per cent of the Canadian population is online. These potential customers search, with Google, for local content. Results from a recent Vision Critical/Angus Reid Public Opinion study reveal that 55 per cent of companies already online attribute between six to more than 30 per cent of their revenue to their websites.

"There are so many small business owners in Canada that are under the misperception that they can't compete with larger companies; yet, the web allows them to do just that — it opens up new markets and levels the playing field so that everyone has equal opportunity in the virtual world," continued O'Neill.

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Google is partnering with RBC Royal Bank, Rogers Canadian Internet Registration Authority, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, The Globe and Mail, Yola and Silver Lining Limited to make Canada Get Your Business Online program possible.