Indian small and medium businesses might understand the importance of the internet, but they have been slow to adopt online strategies because of lack of time and understanding of the internet medium. There is a tremendous opportunity for small businesses to grow if they take advantage of online tools, which will result in a better experience for users and for businesses, says Allan Thygesen, vice-president & Global Head of SMBs for Google. He tells BV Mahalakshmi that with 200 million internet users in the country and growing, the internet economy in India is set to take off. Excerpts:

What is Google?s strategy in India to attract more SMB customers?

Small businesses have been key to Google?s success from the beginning and Google?s long term success in India is linked with helping Indian SMBs succeed online. We have made significant investments in outreach through workshops and marketing roadshows to reach out to SMBs spread across India. In order to encourage SMBs to adopt the internet, we have announced initiatives such as ?India Get Your Business Online? to hand-hold them and train them to use internet effectively.

Additionally, Google has been investing significantly in creating an ecosystem to cater to the needs of SMBs. We have created local partner network across India to help SMBs manage their businesses online. We have also ramped up support for small business customers and offer free phone and chat support and e-mail for AdWords customers in their local languages.

We have received a great response to our outreach programmes with SMB verticals like tech, retail, education, classifieds and local, media and entertainment and finance and travel exhibiting rapid online adoption in India.

In the wake of current challenges in internet/mobile connectivity, is Google working on any low-cost services or customised plans for the Indian market?

With 200 million internet users in the country and growing, the internet economy in India is set to take off and for internet users to have more meaningful and useful experience of the internet, we need to get more local businesses online. Google as part of its outreach programme plans to get 500,000 SMBs online by 2015. Indian SMBs have been slow to adopt internet due to their limited understanding of the medium. Our ?India Get your Business Online? initiative is targeted at encouraging SMBs to adopt internet and have developed 300,000 websites for businesses for free.

Further, we have launched a number of products that remove the boundaries to help small businesses get online and connect with customers online. These include AdWords Express, a platform specifically designed for small businesses that manages your campaigns, Google+pages to help businesses connect and share information with customers and fans, and helping SMBs go mobile as mobile use is growing tremendously, and it?s important for small businesses to have a site that?s easy to navigate on a mobile device. We offer help and tools through our partners who can help SMBs to build mobile landing pages so that their customers can find what they want more quickly.

How is digital advertising picking up in India compared to other markets?

Studies have shown that SMBs who use the Web fare much better than those that do not. As per a Ficci & Nathan Associates report, on an average, Web-enabled SMBs boasted revenues 51% higher and 49% more profit, than their offline-only counterparts. With 200 million internet users in the country and growing, online presence could be key to SMBs to reach out to a large customer-base. Indian SMBs are smart entrepreneurs and understand the importance of the internet but have been slower to adopt online strategies because of lack of time and understanding of the internet medium and self service model. India is a ?do it for me market? and that is the reason we are investing heavily in creating local partner ecosystem.

In terms of return on investment, internet offers very targeted advertising options, so there is no wastage. When a small business chooses to advertise on Google search, their ads show up on Google search when someone is looking for their service and they only pay when someone clicks on their ad. The advertisers decides how much they want to spend per click and when they want to spend, which gives them better control of their advertising and marketing budget and measurement that is possible only on the internet.

How important is the Indian market for Google?s SMB business?

Small businesses have been key to Google?s success from the beginning. With India slated to become the second largest internet market in the world, India is an important market for Google globally. With over 47 million small and medium businesses in India, Google is focussed on connecting users with these businesses. While the Indian SMBs understand the importance of the internet, they have been slower to adopt online strategies because of lack of time and understanding of the internet medium and self service model.

In addition to this, less than 5% of Indian SMBs have an online presence. We have significantly ramped up our focus on SMBs in India and have invested aggressively in getting more businesses online and in creating an ecosystem to cater to the needs of SMBs here. India is on its way to become the second largest internet market in the world overtaking the US by 2015.

The surge in affordable smartphones is also bringing more users online. The e-commerce industry, which is a good indicator of the health of internet economy, is also seeing rapid growth with over 20 million internet users transacting online. E-commerce, which was about $10 billion in 2013, is projected to touch $100 billion by 2020. This surge in internet user base is changing the way consumers look for local business information which provides a great opportunity for small businesses to reach new customers online.

How do you plan to expand the network to reach out to SMBs?

Google has invested in creating a local partner network across India to help SMBs manage their businesses online. We currently have 1,200 Google partners, which is among the largest partner network we have in Asia. In the last two years, Google has also appointed premier partners covering over 65 cities and plans to ramp this up to 100 cities in 2014. These partners in total have a workforce of 1,500 people who are all trained to help SMBs in making the most of opportunity in India.