Google Tools Extravaganza
We all know that most people use Google to search online for the information they’re looking for (in fact about 25 million searches are carried out each month on Google in the UK alone!), but did you know that Google also has an array of tools, most of which are free, at the disposal of website owners?
Here’s a list of some of the best ones to use, but there are many more, all which can be found here. All you need to do is set up a Google Account to use them if you haven't got one already.
1. Google Maps
If your business services a specific area and/or has it’s own premises, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re listed on Google Maps. You can register for free and you may well find your business ranking in the Google maps results which often appear at the top of the search results. It’s a great way to get found and can really increase the visibility of your website – to see an example, just type in e.g ‘hotels portsmouth’ into Google and a maps listing will come up above the main search results. To get your site included in Google Maps, click on the following link, then click on ‘put your business on Google Maps’ and follow the instructions: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps
2. Google Products
If you have an e-commerce site that sells products, you can submit your products to Google which will list them in search results in the product search. Again, this is completely free and can give your products additional visibility in Google. To set this up you can either submit items individually or use a feed which you may need your web developer to set up for you:
http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en – click on 'information for sellers' at the bottom of the page, then click on ‘submit your products’ on the left and follow the instructions.
3. Google Images
Google are integrating images into their main search results as well as their stand alone image search, so it can really pay off to ensure you optimise any images you have on your website, particularly product images. It’s surprising how much traffic you could actually get to your site from the Google image search. Here’s a very useful diagram of optimising your images to ensure they rank within the image search (from Search Engine Land). The main thing is to ensure the image itself has a relevant file name, not just ‘image1.jpg’, that it is properly labelled with an image ‘alt’ tag and a description around the image using the keywords where possible.
4. Google Alerts
Google Alerts are set up to send you an email when an article is posted to the web containing keywords specified by you. The alerts can be used in all sorts of ways, such as to keep track of a particular subject you’re interested in, check out your competitors and also check out what’s being said about your own business, which is really important with all the social channels on the web. Use it to your advantage so that not only can you easily find information across the web on a daily basis, but you can reply back to anything being said about your business.
5. Google Blog Search
If you’re into blogging and want to find other blogs within your area of interest, then Google Blog Search is a great tool to find them. You may even find your own blog in the search if you have one.
6. Google Notebook
This is a tool that I’ve started to use over the last few months and find it really useful. It’s a bit like an extended bookmarking tool where you can write notes about websites or articles you’ve found and want to be able to refer back to. You can categorise sites you find as well. Furthermore, you can download the tool to bookmark pages in your browser, so all you have to do is ‘clip’ the article or web page you want and write a short note about it. You can then log back in later to refer back to your clipped items.
7. Google Video
If you’ve got videos on your website, then make sure you submit them to Google Video as video results are being integrated into Google’s main search results and you could find it ranking there. On the top right of the page, click on ‘upload videos’ and log into your Google account if you have one. Make sure you include a good description of your video that includes keywords! Don’t forget to submit to YouTube at the same time (also owned by Google).
8. Blogger
If you want to set up a blog that’s easy to use and free, then Blogger can be a good place to start. You can be set up in minutes with a new blog, choosing a free template that can also be adapted with your own logo etc. Blogger is probably one of the easiest blogging platforms to use and you can try out blogging with Blogger before committing to it as a long term activity for your business, when you may want to migrate to more powerful platforms such as Wordpress or Typepad.
Others to try:
Google Chrome – the new internet browser. I’m sticking with Firefox for now!
Google Checkout – a similar offering to Paypal, I’ve not used it but would find out the pros and cons (and costs involved) of using it over Paypal if you want to give visitors the options of paying for goods or services on your site.
Google Mail – free webmail, very similar to Hotmail. If you’ve not got a webmail account then set one up and use it to subscribe newsletters (particularly if you subscribe to quite a few) and even testing out your own email newsletter!
Google Trends – find out what’s hot in search at the moment!
Category: General Online Marketing
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