Check out your new image ads from the AdWords Display Ad Builder

(Cross-posted on the Inside AdWords blog.)

Image and video ads on the Google Display Network can have a strong impact on the success of your online marketing campaigns. These ads convey your messages in more engaging and memorable ways, enticing viewers to buy what youíre selling.

The Display Ad Builder tool within AdWords already lets you easily create image and video ads for free and gives you the flexibility to customize these ads to suit your needs. Check out these image ads for examples of what you can create:

But today weíre announcing a new feature that essentially builds your image ads for you.

The Display Ad Builder now automatically creates suggested image ads, using the existing text ads in your campaign.

• Click on the suggested ad that you like best.
• If necessary, customize any fonts, text, or colors that need tweaking.
• Then incorporate the ad into one of your ad groups. Itís that simple.

Check out your suggested ads now>>

You donít even have to be in the Display Ad Builder tool to use this new feature.

• If youíre in one of your ad groups, you can select an existing text ad and under ìMore Actions,î choose ìGenerate Display Ad.î
• AdWords will create an image ad based on the text ad you selected.

If you want to create your ad from scratch, you can always choose from hundreds of template designs.

• Add your text and customize the fonts, colors, and background.
• Choose images from the AdWords stock gallery, from your computer, or straight off your website.
• Review the ad in all formats to make sure it looks right, then add it to your campaign.

For more information about Display Ad Builder, visit the Display Network website.

Posted by Lauren Barbato, Inside AdWords crew

Google+ page stories: King Arthur Flour

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of posts about small businesses on Google+ and their tips and tricks for managing a great page. Visit our YouTube channel to see all the videos in this series and join the discussion on the Google+ Your Business page.

Meet King Arthur Flour, America’s oldest flour company. Founded in 1790, King Arthur Flour is now an employee-owned company that offers everything from baking products to educational baking programs—all with the mission to “inspire, educate and bake.” PJ Hamel, King Arthur Flour’s resident writer, shows how Google+ helps the company share the joy of baking with people all around the world.



As we mentioned the other week, Google+ Pages helps you share relevant content to your stream with the right people using Google+ Circles. PJ Hamel, King Arthur Flour’s resident writer, uses Google+ circles to share certain recipes with specific groups of interested customers.



Here are some more tips for sharing to your stream:

• Share visual content. Add photos, videos, or links to your posts. Simply drag the photos, videos, or links directly to the share box. To add a link, just find the icon that's next to the URL in your browser window and drag it to the share box.
• Grab someone’s attention by mentioning them in posts. Say you’re creating a post based on a user’s question, or you want to respond directly to a customer in the comments. To really grab their attention, try “plussing” (or “mentioning”) them in your post or comment. This will alert the customer to your comment, and bring them back to the post. To mention someone:
  
  1. Type +[person's name] or @[person's name]. (You can also type their email address instead of their name.)
  2. As you type, an autocomplete list of people will appear.
  3. Select the person you want to mention.
• Add style to your post.
  
  1. Use underscores to italicize. _ italics_ → italics
     
  2. Use asterisks to bold. * bold* → bold
  3. Use hyphens to strikethrough. - strikethrough - → strikethrough

Want to learn more? Visit the Google+ Your Business site, and stay tuned for more Google+ stories and tips from small businesses. You can also watch all our Google+ page stories on YouTube.

As you share to your Stream, what kinds of content have you found are most engaging with your followers? Join the discussion on the Google+ Your Business page and tag your posts #mybusinessstory.

Posted by Evelyn Lee, Google+ Pages Associate Product Marketing Manager

Google+ page stories: North Bowl

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of posts about small businesses on Google+ and their tips and tricks for managing a great page. Visit our YouTube channel to see all the videos in this series and join the discussion on the Google+ Your Business page.

Recently we introduced you to Best Made Company, a group of outdoor enthusiasts that specializes in designing and handcrafting wilderness supplies. Next up we have North Bowl, a 21,000-square-foot bowling center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Oron Daskal and his staff are passionate about creating a fun, social space at the lounge and alley for their local community. In fact, he says, he probably “sees the most high fives in the city.”



One of the great things about Google+ Pages is the ability to share relevant content with the right people using Google+ Circles. Take a tip from North Bowl and learn how you can use circles with your page:



Want to get started with circles? Here are some quick tips:

• Create circles to target messages to particular groups. Say you have multiple locations, you may want to organize your followers by geographic areas, and thus, send deal updates to the most relevant people. Or say you want to share information with your employees. Just put them in a circle and make sure that only they get the message.
• Share your circles. Have you built a circle featuring all the experts in your field? Share it with the Google+ community! Click the Circles icon at the top of Google+, select the circle you’d like to share, and hit “Share this circle” at the top right of the page.
• Edit the order of your Circles. In your Circles dashboard, just click and hold on a circle in order to drag it to a new position on the page.

Want to learn more? Visit the Google+ Your Business site, and stay tuned for more Google+ stories and tips from small businesses. You can also watch all our Google+ page stories on YouTube.

How does your business use circles? Join the discussion on the Google+ Your Business page and tag your posts #mybusinessstory.

Posted by Evelyn Lee, Google+ Pages Associate Product Marketing Manager

TalkBin Stories: Patama Roj of Fraiche

Editor’s Note: TalkBin enables customers to send mobile messages to business owners in real-time, like a digital comment card. To learn more, visit talkbin.com.

The pace of life for a small business owner is unrelenting. Just ask Patama Roj, co-founder and owner of Fraiche, a company based in Palo Alto, California that serves homemade organic fresh and frozen yogurt, coffee and breakfast goods. Patama is dedicated to serving food that "speaks for itself," and customers are loving it.

With three locations though (two in Palo Alto and one in San Francisco), it’s hard to understand what’s going on across the business. That’s why Patama started using TalkBin to stay connected with customers even when she’s not in a particular store. Customers ask questions and provide feedback, which helps her understand exactly what's going on in each location. "It was important for me to find a way to get this feedback real-time," she says. And with TalkBin, business owners like Patama can receive this instant feedback without sharing personal mobile phone information, since TalkBin provides a special, customer-facing phone number and forwards feedback to your phone or email.

The ability to receive TalkBin messages on her cell phone makes responding quick and convenient for Patama as well. "Customers are always surprised to hear they're getting a text back from the owner!” she says.

Interested in using TalkBin in your store too? Get three months free when you sign up with promo code BLOGSMB-2 at www.talkbin.com/signup/user.

Posted by Qasar Younis, Product Manager

Protect your passwords, protect your business

Managing your business, even if it's a real-world store with a physical address, is increasingly moving into the online space. With that comes the need to maintain good online security practices to protect both your own information and that of your customers. Behind your password lies a wealth of data that can be very interesting to your competitors and criminals. You should see this data as a commodity, just like the product you are selling. And just like your product, you don’t want it to fall into the wrong hands.

Here’s what you can do to help protect your business online:

Use strong, unique passwords. Cyber-criminals use sophisticated tools that can rapidly decipher passwords. Did you know that one of the most common passwords is actually ‘password’? It’s recommended to use a password with a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols. Create a unique password that's unrelated to your personal information. For example if you sell flowers, don’t have ‘flowers’ in your password.

Memorize your passwords or keep them secret. Would you leave the key to your office in the door when you leave? Obviously not. Yet many people leave notes by their desks with their most used passwords or leave their screens unlocked. This leaves the door to your systems available to be unlocked by anyone who discovers its passwords. If you have to write down your passwords, keep them in a secret place. If you have to save your passwords on your computer, avoid giving the file an obvious name, such as ‘my passwords.’

Don't re-use passwords for important accounts, especially important accounts like email and online banking. Re-using passwords is risky: if someone figures out your password for one service, that person could potentially gain access to your private email, address, and even your money.

Add extra security. If you have a Google Account, you can install 2-step verification which will add an extra layer of security by requiring you to have access to your phone--as well as your username and password--when you sign in. This means that if someone steals or guesses your password, the potential hijacker still can't sign in to your account because they don't have your phone.

Run regular anti-virus scans. If you get malware on your system, it may be programmed to look for passwords either typed in or saved. And it doesn’t hurt to change your passwords every once in awhile too.

Share these resources with your colleagues to help keep them safe and secure online:

• Online security videos:
• Strong Passwords (also earlier in this post)
• Social Engineering
• Understanding Phishing
  
• Read these tips for staying more secure on the web, including:
• Phishing
• Malware
• Secure sites
• Safe networks
• Mobile security
• Locking your screen
• Google’s security tools

Posted by Katrina Blake Buffini, Risk Analyst

Connect with Googlers and users in our Google+ Help Desk Hangouts

There’s nothing quite like talking to your customers face to face—being able to hear their feedback and questions directly, and strengthening those relationships. A message we come back to again and again on the Small Business Blog is the importance of connecting with and understanding your customers, whether you’re a small business or a company as large as Google. And so, a few months ago, the Google+ Pages team decided to practice what we preach by giving Page admins an opportunity to connect with us via a Google+ Hangout.

The response was overwhelming. Over the course of three hours, our team met with more than 350 Google+ users. We got to know one another, collected feedback, and listened to what business owners had to say about Google+ Pages.

Yesterday we hosted another round of these Help Desk Hangouts. We know not everyone can always make it for these, so we’ve collected a few of the more common questions we hear from business owners and answered them here:

Why should I have a Google+ Page?

Where to begin? Google+ offers you an incredible array of tools designed to help you get closer than ever to your customers. Use Hangouts to meet face-to-face, use circles to tailor your message to different audiences, and Ripples to figure out who’s sharing your content. You can also use Search on Google+ to tune into the conversation in real-time. Finally, Google+ is growing every day, and you want to make sure you’re where your customers are going.

How can I get people to follow me on Google+?

There are a number of things you can do here. Be sure to cross-promote. Put a brand badge on your website to let your customers add your page directly to their circles. Include links to your page in the e-mails you send and even create an “Add Us On Google+” sign to put up in your store. Second, identify the people who matter in your industry. Find them with search and Ripples, and build relationships from there. By resharing your content, they can help you build your audience. Third, and most importantly, post quality, creative, and exclusive content on your page. People will spread the word about things that excite, engage, and impact them.

Any other advice for creating good content for my page?

Google+ is fantastic for sharing videos and photos, so you should use rich media to spice up your updates. You should also use an informal, conversational tone. It goes a long way toward making your page seem approachable. Include calls to action that encourage your customers to engage — ask them questions about what they’re looking for, what they like and any feedback they may have about your product and services. Post information they can’t get anywhere else — let them know that Google+ is the place to look for the most up-to-date information about your company. And most importantly, just have fun! We’re learning too, so we’d love to hear what works (and what doesn’t) for you and your page.

What’s coming soon on Google+ Pages?

Our team is hard at work growing Google+ Pages, and we have a lot to do—a challenge we’re excited to take on. There’s lot more to come, so stay tuned in the coming months.

Thanks to those of you who joined our Hangouts yesterday, and for those of you who missed us, we hope you can drop by next time. Follow the Google+ Your Business page for updates about future Hangouts and new feature announcements.

Posted by Toby Stein, Google+ Community Manager

Tell your business story with Google+ Pages

When we launched Google+ Pages last November, we saw more than a million businesses create new profiles to better connect with their customers. Page owners have been hosting Hangouts, updating their customers on the latest news and deals, and sharing exclusive photos and videos. We’ve loved the creativity and wanted to share what some business owners have been learning as they use Google+.

Over the next couple months, we’ll be introducing you to some cool small businesses who’ve recently joined Google+, both here on the Small Business Blog and on the Google+ Your Business page. We’ll be sharing what they’ve learned along with their tips and tricks for managing a great page.

First up: Meet Best Made Company, a group of outdoor enthusiasts that specializes in designing and handcrafting wilderness supplies. Their passion is to inspire people to experience the outdoors — a passion that inspired us to share their story.



If you’re just getting started on Google+, here are a couple quick tips on how to create a great page:

1. Select your profile photo. This is the first thing people will see, so choose a good representation of your business.
2. Make sure to add five scrapbook photos, complete the “About” section, and add links to other destinations where you can be found on the web. These three sections help you get your story out there. 
3. Decide on a tone for your page and stay consistent in your messaging. You want your posts to feel personal and authentic. You can even link your personal Google+ profile in the “About” section so people know who’s posting. 

Want to learn more? Visit the Google+ Your Business site, and stay tuned for more Google+ stories and tips from the following businesses:

• North Bowl 
• King Arthur Flour
• Loluma
• Birds Barbershop
• Happy Hound Play & Daycare
• CoffeeCakeKC
• The Pablove Foundation (non-profit)

Have Google+ stories and tips of your own to share? We’d love to hear them. Add the Google+ Your Business page to your circles and tag your posts #mybusinessstory.

Posted by Evelyn Lee, Google+ Pages Associate Product Marketing Manager