Internet giant Google has teamed up with business software vendor MYOB for a nationwide initiative to give small businesses a free website. Google and MYOB plan to sign up 50,000 businesses this year.

According to the companies, millions of Australians regularly turn to the Internet to research local shops and services, yet two-thirds of Australian small businesses are invisible online because they don’t have a website.

“Businesses typically cite a lack of time, knowledge, and money as the chief barriers to getting online. Getting Aussie Business Online is designed to take away these barriers.”

Google’s Head of local business Claire Hatton said: “Websites don’t have to be fancy or expensive. Most of the time people are just looking for your phone number, your location if you have one, and a little bit of information that lets them know you can rebuild their kitchen or landscape their garden or whatever they’re looking for.

"Australian consumers’ are using the Internet more and more, particularly for research for local products and services. Every day in Australia, there are 12,000 Google searches for builders, but fewer than 1 in 4 businesses in the construction industry have got a website."

MYOB chief executive Tim Reed said, "The challenges most businesses face when thinking about setting up a website are the cost, the technical expertise, and the time. By working together, Google and MYOB through the Getting Aussie Business Online initiative are addressing this by making it quick, simple and free for any business to build a website."

“Our initial goal is to get at least 50,000 businesses set up with a free website this year. We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Google on this initiative.”

Starting today, Australian business owners can visit the Getting Aussie Business Online website - www.gettingbusinessonline.com.au - to set up their own free website using the MYOB Atlas website creation tool. The Getting Aussie Business Online offer also includes a free .com.au domain and resources to help businesses add information and features to their website over time. The domain will be free for two years, and $30 for the next two years after that.

More from IBT Markets:
Newsletter: To receive Global Markets update, sign up here