Where to go to get a Grant for your Business Website

Where to go to get a Grant for your Business Website

The first thing you should do to get a grant for your website, should be to contact your Local Authority. A Local Authority often has special schemes to help support and promote businesses in their area, which can include funding for websites through a series of Grants.

You can find details of your Local Authority here.

Secondly, and if you have not already been referred by the Local Authority, you should contact Business Link. Business Link is a national organisation covering England Scotland and Wales set-up to support business in the UK and which offers Grants for a Website. To contact your nearest Business Link Office go here. If you'll be applying for a grant for your website from Business Link, you should contact them before you appoint a web designer or developer for the project.

Business Grant Resources

Business Gateway - Business Gateway has lots of start up information to help you set off in the right direction. They also have finance & grants pages .

HIE - Support and grants advice for businesses in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Grant Finder from Big Wales - Grants and Finance for starting up or expansion of a business from some government and support organisations, in addition to banks and financial institutions. Big Wales offers information and help to business in Wales.

British Chambers of Commerce -  The BCC is the national body for a powerful and influential network of Accredited Chambers.

Invest Northern Ireland - Part of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. Offers sources of business help and support. Has guides on setting up and running businesses in Northern Ireland.

Business Grants Search - Comprehensive information on government grants for both business and voluntary groups which is updated DAILY. Free but registration required.

West Midlands Access to Finance - Claims to have the most comprehensive regional database of finance funding for businesses in the West Midlands.

Grants Online - Grants Online provides the very latest information on grant funding opportunities.

Website Grants for the Community, Non-profit organisations & Charities

Non-profit Organisation Grants

Awards for All - Lottery grants scheme for local communities. There are different schemes for each of the four countries of the UK.

Charity Grants

BIG - Big hands out half the good causes money from the National Lottery and gives Lottery grants to charitable organisations, voluntary & community associations.

British charitable and non-profit sector Grants

Access Funds - Grants information for the British charitable and non-profit sector. This website provides the latest information on available funding from the Government, The National Lottery, other governing bodies and the EU.

Government Funding - A website portal for the voluntary & community sector with links to available grants from; Cabinet Office, Department for Communities and Local Government, D of H, HM Revenue & Customs, Home Office, Ministry of Defence and Regional Government Offices.

Where to go to get a Grant for your Business Website

Where to go to get a Grant for your Business Website

The first thing you should do to get a grant for your website, should be to contact your Local Authority. A Local Authority often has special schemes to help support and promote businesses in their area, which can include funding for websites through a series of Grants.

You can find details of your Local Authority here.

Secondly, and if you have not already been referred by the Local Authority, you should contact Business Link. Business Link is a national organisation covering England Scotland and Wales set-up to support business in the UK and which offers Grants for a Website. To contact your nearest Business Link Office go here. If you'll be applying for a grant for your website from Business Link, you should contact them before you appoint a web designer or developer for the project.

Business Grant Resources

Business Gateway - Business Gateway has lots of start up information to help you set off in the right direction. They also have finance & grants pages .

HIE - Support and grants advice for businesses in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Grant Finder from Big Wales - Grants and Finance for starting up or expansion of a business from some government and support organisations, in addition to banks and financial institutions. Big Wales offers information and help to business in Wales.

British Chambers of Commerce -  The BCC is the national body for a powerful and influential network of Accredited Chambers.

Invest Northern Ireland - Part of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. Offers sources of business help and support. Has guides on setting up and running businesses in Northern Ireland.

Business Grants Search - Comprehensive information on government grants for both business and voluntary groups which is updated DAILY. Free but registration required.

West Midlands Access to Finance - Claims to have the most comprehensive regional database of finance funding for businesses in the West Midlands.

Grants Online - Grants Online provides the very latest information on grant funding opportunities.

Website Grants for the Community, Non-profit organisations & Charities

Non-profit Organisation Grants

Awards for All - Lottery grants scheme for local communities. There are different schemes for each of the four countries of the UK.

Charity Grants

BIG - Big hands out half the good causes money from the National Lottery and gives Lottery grants to charitable organisations, voluntary & community associations.

British charitable and non-profit sector Grants

Access Funds - Grants information for the British charitable and non-profit sector. This website provides the latest information on available funding from the Government, The National Lottery, other governing bodies and the EU.

Government Funding - A website portal for the voluntary & community sector with links to available grants from; Cabinet Office, Department for Communities and Local Government, D of H, HM Revenue & Customs, Home Office, Ministry of Defence and Regional Government Offices.

Here are my 8 top tips for getting to the top of the Google Places SERPs!

1 See if you are included in Googles’ database by searching for your company in the “Maps” section of Google. More than likely you are already included as Google bought the Thompson Local database in the UK, but if you are not then you will need to “Add your business” using the links on the page.
2 Claim and verify your listing. Google prefers listings who detailed have been verified by the owners. To verify you listing you will be asked to enter a code into your account admin page that will be sent to you by Phone, SMS, or Postcard.
3 Make sure you fill out every section in the information page. This means as well as adding all your contact details that you add 10 pictures, at least 3 videos from YouTube (they do not have to be about you but as long as they are related to your business they will help), a description that includes your keywords and don’t forget the ‘Additional Details’ area this a great way to get some more details of your business onto the page, it is also a great place to insert some of those keywords that will rank well.
4 Make sure that all your contact details are consistent. This is one of the main stumbling points for many people. You must make sure that whenever your details appear on the web, whether it be on your website, a directory or your Google places page, that they are exactly the same. Any small differences like Rd instead or Road, different phone numbers, abbreviated County (Beds for Bedfordshire) can cause real problems.
5 Link your website to your Google Places page. In general Google loves anyone that it sees as an “information provider” and a well optimised website can really boost your position.
6 Get citation links from as many places as you can. Everyone knows that Google loves backlinks to your site but for Places pages it uses citations rather than keyword backlinks. Citations are mentions or your name and contact details which means that online directories are a great place to start. Also look for industry specific directories as I have found that Google often gives more credit for citations from these sites.
7 Get Reviews from Customers. Many people think that this is becoming the most important factor in Google Places SERPs and I think that if they will become more important as time goes on. Talk to your customers and solicit reviews if you can but be sure to add them over a period of time as Google often “smells a rat” if they are all added on the same day. See my post on Online Reputation Management for more details on this subject.
8 Go back and repeat steps 6 & 7 every month if you can. You must remember that SERPs are fluid and change on a day to day basis. As competitors catch on they may try to catch you so its important to stay ahead of the pack!


Call or email me to for a free search engine optimisation (SEO) quote now.
Tel: 01234 317441 or email rob@rsinternet.co.uk

How to get your Google Places Page ranking higher

Top Tips for getting your Google Places Page to rank higher

1. Optimise your website for location+products/services, including building good links to your pages.

2. Choose the proper categories in Places.

3. Make sure Google can associate your website and your Places page together.

4. Eliminate data confusion.

5. Solicit reviews from happy customers.

6. Work on everything else as time and budget permit.

Local SEO - Get as much free exposure on other sites as you can

As a local company with local clients you may think that internet marketing is not relevant to you but you are mistaken. You could be dismissing a valuable source of work if you ignore the latest internet trends.

The best place to start is of course with a website but this does not necessarily mean you need hire a web designer. There are many ways in which you can get great exposure on other sites and all for free.

Google provide a one page website for every business and all you have to do is claim it. See my post on Claiming your Google places page for more details on this.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube all offer great exposure and all it takes is some time.

There are also many free directory listings from Yell, Scoot, City-Visitor to name but a few. An afternoon filling in online forms can see great results as many of this listings also get first page listings in Google.

In short, get your name out there on as many sites as you can and see the results.

WordPress Websites Bedford

Content Management Software

Call or email me to for a free WordPress website design quote now. Tel: 01234 317441 

Website design has changed over the last few years. The huge popularity of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube has meant the internet has become a more interactive experience. This means that consumers expect a current, up to date website, even from smaller local companies.

Content management software such as WordPress allows non technical users to update their own website content without knowing any “code”, giving them control over the site and allowing them to keep their content relevant. Special offers, prices, opening times, availability for work and many more types of information can easily be changed at the click of a button.

Wordpress Website design Bedford also has the advantage of having a huge amount of extra functionality available at very little cost through the use of 3rd party pluggins. These are small pieces of code that can be easily imported into the site to allow it to do certain functions at a fraction of the cost of employing a custom programmer. These functions could be virtually anything depending on your business but popular pluggins include online video, image galleries, calenders, contact form and many more.

I have been using WordPress since its launch in 2003 and consider myself an expert. I can create almost any website design in WordPress to give you a totally bespoke website with lots of functionality.

Call or email me to for a free website design quote now. Tel: 01234 317441 

Claim Your Google Places Page

Did you know that Google has created a one page website for every business in the UK?

Further more 50% of businesses in the UK have yet to claim this web page and are missing out of the possible traffic and enquires it could bring. To find out more about Google Places Pages, and how to find and claim your contact me on 01234 317441.