Canada Get Your Business Online see: magrath-ab.ca

I read this on the net the other day and said, hmm I wonder if it works: "Websites are now free for all Canadian businesses. If you're a business owner without a website, you probably have a good reason for it. Maybe you thought it was too expensive or took too much time?  Maybe you were overwhelmed by the technology and didn't know where to start? Canada Get Your Business Online is a new program that provides businesses a fast, free, and easy way to get online. Google is investing in Canadian businesses by creating gybo.ca and by paying for your .ca domain registry for 12 months. Yola is providing you with hosting, their leading site building tool, and support."

Sure, I thought .. although, I suppose Google has much to gain by having more businesses online to purchase their services .. so, I gave it a whirl.

1) Free .ca domain name (for first year - thereafter about $30/yr). It only took a few minutes to select and submit magrath-ab.ca and then simply answered a phone call to my number confirming I lived in Canada. Done. Never had to give any credit card information.
2) Hosted by Yola.com website .. also free (for first year - thereafter up to $10/mo). Selected a template (basic) and added an applet (a link to my tumblr blog aka ssdirect.tumblr.com). Previewed and Published. Easy.

3) A while later the website was live on the internet. Wow.

Of course, now they would like to sell us on their 'other services' such as: " To increase your marketing reach, you might consider: 

 • AdWords - Target customers locally or anywhere in the world. Pay only for ads that bring prospects to you.

 • Google Base - Add your entire catalog to our free product search site.

 • Google Checkout - Sell online with Google Checkout and increase sales by driving more traffic and higher conversions.

Maybe later ..

--
Roger Davies .. the computer guy
at Soft Serve Direct in Magrath, AB
rdavies@ssdirect.com