Google and MYOB have teamed up to provide businesses the chance to create an online presence with a simple all-in-one website package called ‘Getting Aussie Business Online’. The websites will be avaliable to the first 50,000 businesses to register and will offer includes free hosting for one year, in addition to free .com.au domains for 2 years and a Google Adwords trial worth $75.
It all sounds like pretty good deal – because domain name hosting can cost up to $50 for 2 years on some Australian domain registers. And businesses will be able to take advantage of MYOB’s finance tools included in their Atlas website solution, which is an additional saving.
The free web hosting will change to a fee of $5/month after the first year freebies run out. To take advantage of the offer, businesses will need to provide their ABN and business details like address and phone number.
Google’s head of Local Business Claire Hatton hopes the business will fill in the gaps when it comes to more blue-collar professions establishing websites:
Every day in Australia there are 12,000 Google searches for builders, but fewer than 1 in 4 businesses in the construction and trade industry has a website. We want to address this gap by removing common barriers like cost and time to set up a website. We also want to make it easier for Australians to find the information they’re looking for online.
If you’re a business and want a free website, check out Getting Aussie Business Online for more information.
Brisbane Website Designers
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 1:57 PMWhilst I do agree with the assertion that almost every business needs to be online (far to few are) and that it shouldn’t cost the Earth to do so … I also feel it prudent to remind business owners that you generally get what you pay for with “free” template business websites.
It’s a little like saying that you can run your business using an Excel spreadsheet (I did for a year or so as a single-operator myself). Sure you can, but MYOB’s 1 Million plus customers realise that this isn’t the best way to do things either.
Same thing with the “free” websites being offered here and other places … They will get your business online just fine but they may not represent your brand/business very well or you may outgrow them quite quickly.
Don’t be afraid to try the free stuff though … and if/when it becomes necessary then look for a more professional solution to suit your needs.
A simple small-business website built by a professional who takes the time to understand your needs often costs somewhere in the $1K to $2K range. That’s a good price to pay for a good branding and marketing tool.
I had this conversation with MYOB’s Tim Reed and Tony Palmer from C4 a couple of weeks ago on Sky News Business channel’s “Technology Behind Business”.
We all have slightly different points of view but there might be some good ideas in it that are appropriate to your small business, if you have a few minutes to watch the discussion.
http://www.youtube.com/CreativeIntersection
Mike Gomez
Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at 10:59 PMI couldnt agree more with Brisbane Website designers. I run an accountancy firm and had a website built using a free website builder. I eventually took it down as it was embarrassing and actually doing more damage than good.
When I wanted to add a calendar to show my events, I found I couldn’t, or I could but it would cost $450!! It was so inflexible that it didn’t grow with my business. Also a note on the hosting, you really get what you pay for. I paid 45 a year for hosting and the site was only 5 pages but took ages.
I found a low cost solution and was really happy with it. I just had a e-newsletter subscriber which allows people to sign up for my mailout, and it cost me 65 dollars.
There is better value for dollar out there in my opinion
akhlak ahmad
Monday, July 18, 2011 at 8:03 PMeducation