News

Google gets small South African businesses online

20 January 2012

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has thrown its weight behind a Google initiative to get small businesses online.

The initiative makes it easy for small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMEs) – which DTI Deputy Minister Elizabeth Thabethe referred to as the “bedrock” of the economy – to set up an online presence quickly and easily.

The free service, available at www.wozaonline.co.za, guides users through a few simple steps in creating a basic website, that is also optimised for mobile phones, in less than an hour.

Luke Mckend, country manager for Google South Africa, said the initiative would accelerate the ability of small businesses to reach their consumers. “By reducing the barriers to entry of both effort and cost, we’ll be able to get tens of thousands of small businesses online in South Africa,” he said.

According to Mkcend, over 200 000 companies in South Africa have the potential to benefit from the initiative. It targets people who might have “dabbled” online, perhaps by adding themselves to an online business listing but who do not yet have an online presence.

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