Top Googled Business Questions by State in 2022

The story is honest and familiar—a hardworking American saves up just enough to set up shop in a humble brick and mortar. This person takes a chance, lives their dream, and betters their community in the process.

Starting a business comes with excitement, and as with anything new, questions. You’ll likely find yourself going to Google to solidify where your business should operate, how to get a business license, or simply how to start a business.

The team at CenturyLink Business took a look at the most googled business questions by state and compiled the data into an easy to follow map. Read on to see what questions business owners are asking in your state:

Interesting Findings

• New York’s most googled question was ‘How to advertise your business’. According to a study released by Buffer, out of 20 sites Facebook is the top social media site with 2.9 billion Monthly Active Users (MAUs). YouTube came in second with 2.2 billion MAUs, and WhatsApp was third with 2 billion MAUs.
• According to the ‘2021 Small Business Profile’: there are 61.2 million small business employees in the U.S.—that’s 46.8% of U.S. employees.
• 99.3% of businesses in Utah qualify as a small business and 45.4% of employees in the state work for a small business company.

Methodology

We used SemRush, a keyword research tool software used by marketing professionals to gather data and insights on the most googled business questions. Upon gathering the top ten results for business question keywords we obtained from SemRush, we ran them through Google Trends. This allowed us to gather data on each of the most googled questions per state. We used data collected from April 29, 2021 – April 29, 2022.

Your Business Questions, Answered

You asked, we answered. Now that you know what questions are being asked in each state, here are the answers to some of the most common:

How to start a business

Finding a location for your business is the first and most important step to take when starting a business.
You can easily determine the best location for a business using ‘The Census Business Builder: Small Business Edition – 4.1’ tool, which will allow you to consider both demographic and economic data.

How to write a business plan

The U.S. Small Business Administration has a website with step-by-step instructions for developing a business plan. This website also contains examples, tips, and tricks for individuals that don’t have experience writing a business plan.

What business to start

If you want to start a business, it’s best to start small.
According to the 2021 Small Business Profile, there are roughly 32 million small businesses in the United States, showing that small businesses are on the rise.

How to get a business license

Business licenses vary state by state. To apply for a business license or permit in your state click here.

What is a business entity?

A business entity is the structure of your business and determines how it operates day to day.

Who we are

Business.CenturyLink.com is an authorized sales agent of CenturyLink. For media inquiries contact media@business.centurylink.com.