“Our mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” – Google
True to its bold mission, Google (far more than a search engine) is constantly developing tools and solutions for users to improve efficiency and productivity, including helping businesses to compete and grow their market share. In this digital age, technology is unmistakably absolutely critical. Many small businesses still have a large technology gap to fill and these Google tools will bring about opportunities for these businesses to grow and position themselves for the future.
We have identified some of the best Google tools to help businesses grow and work smarter –
Google My Business, Google Analytics (Marketing Platform), Google Ads, Google Adwords Express and Google Trends.
#1 Google My Business
If there’s a way to make your Business Profile stand out, it has to be Google My Business. Google My Business is a free and simple-to-use tool that complements your website by placing your detailed Business Profile on Google itself, particularly helpful even if you currently do not have a website. Once you have activated this great tool, people are able to find you and connect with you easily by calling you, locating you, checking out your business hours, booking an appointment or leaving you a review. As a business owner, you can instantly respond to reviews and questions, or share photos, offers or events.
The best part is, Google is helping you to keep track of these insights; how many people are searching you out, connecting with you from your Business Profile on Google, how did people find you, where are they coming from? The answers are found right in Google My Business tool.
Google My Business also comes with a free mobile app for business owners to update their profile swiftly. You can snap photos and enhance them with filters which you can post directly to your Business Profile, create posts for new offers, updates and events, answer any questions, see who is interacting with your Business Profile and engage with them by responding to reviews or messaging these reviewers directly.
Get started for free on Google My Business. Manage your business information on Google and the information you provide about your business will appear on Google Search, Maps, and Google+. People are searching for your business on Google, let’s turn these searchers into your customers!
Learn about Google My Business.
#2 Google Analytics
Marketing Intelligence. “Marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed.” –Dan Zarella, The Social Media and Viral Marketing Scientist, Hubspot.
One of the most powerful tools from Google is Google Analytics. Google Analytics lets you know who your visitors are by analysing data that you need. Whatever your industry – travel, automotive, healthcare, or beyond – Google Analytics helps you get a deeper understanding of your customers so you can deliver better experiences and drive greater results. From detailed reporting tools to intelligent data analysis, Google Analytics helps you understand how people use your sites and apps, so you can take action to improve user experience.
It is the most widely-used tool for measuring website data and statistics, be it tracking online campaigns, geographic location and frequency of your visitors, how and how long people actually use your site and which are your best and worst performing pages. You would be surprised at the behavioural statistics and information you see on Google Analytics. The information could be used for optimising your website to increase time spent, traffic and conversions.
“Google Analytics helped us optimise our art marketplace, resulting in 400% year-over-year revenue growth for our art business.” – Mariam Naficy, Founder & CEO, Minted.
Learn more about Google Analytics.
#3 Google Ads
Remarkably the most influential advertising platforms, Google Ads is one of the best ways to grow your business.
Be seen by your customers the very moment they search on Google for the very things you offer. Target your ads to specific customers, or broadcast them anywhere in the world.
Google Ads requires no contract, allowing you the flexibility on cessation of campaigns at any point of time. Businesses are able to obtain the information on consumer search traffic, icing the deal, businesses need only pay when ads are clicked. Hence, giving you ample room to tweak your advertising budget or test your ads to see which works better for you.
Google Ads provides multiple tools which have really comprehensive insights to help you manage your ads and campaigns such as Manager Accounts, Keyword Planner, Adwords Editor and Reach Planner.
Google Ads can appear on Google Search, YouTube, Gmail and Google’s ad network of 2+ million Google network websites and apps.
The 4 Types of Google Ads:
Search Ads
Ads appearing on Google search engine results.
Display Ads
Text and banner ads across over 2+ million websites and apps.
Video Ads
Ads that tell your brand or product story in a video.
App Ads
Promote your app across the entire Google network.
#4 Google Adwords Express
On the other hand, if you feel Google Ads is too complex and doesn’t work for you, there is a simpler advertising tool you can use – Google Adwords Express.
You can easily set up your advertisement with an allocated budget within few minutes and you’re ready to go live on Google. Similar to Google Ads, your ad can appear when users search on keywords on what you offer and you pay only when your ad gets clicked on. As we know you may be confused by these 2 advertising tools, we have broken down in the tables below to compare the differences as well as similarities. In a glance, you would be able to pick out the best tool for your advertising needs.
11 KEY DIFFERENCES: GOOGLE ADS AND GOOGLE ADWORDS EXPRESS
8 KEY SIMILARITIES: GOOGLE ADS AND GOOGLE ADWORDS EXPRESS
Learn More about Google Adwords Express.
#5 Google Trends
Keep up with the latest or most popular search terms on Google, be informed on the number of searches for a particular term or the hottest topic in a category or region –all on Google Trends.
Google Trends stores, charts and trends every keyword and it’s the most comprehensive tool available. Because Google Trends is able to provide analytical insights, it helps you to understand their demands and read their minds. Google Trends clusters topics from Google Search, Google News, and YouTube by location and time frame, making it ultra-user-friendly for business owners to understand the data.
12 KEY BENEFITS OF USING GOOGLE TRENDS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS
- Focus on search terms and keywords for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Identify when and where demand is greatest
- Research on keywords in other languages (other than English)
- Google Trends reflect real-time data
- Research on any keyword / category / location instantly
- Research and understand an individual market’s interest before a launch
- Compare and research on competition
- Adjust marketing campaigns to match demand
- Adjust copywriting and content marketing to drive more traffic
- Keep track of users’ updated interest (at any moment)
- Allocate more advertising budget to trending keywords
- Use trends to adapt and inspire visual communication such as ad creative or design
Learn more about Google Trends
Closing Thoughts
There are numerous ways to generate new customers and grow your business. One way is to simply tap on these Google tools. Be it expanding your Brand’s visibility, analysing your visitors, advertising your products and services or simply understanding the current trends, use these tools to help you grow your business and effectively improve your everyday marketing and business operations. These tools generate insights to help you in making better decisions on where you should put your budget.
As always, we are happy to hear from you.
Etereo is a content, branding and digital marketing agency which collaborates with companies to grow their businesses. We are here to help, talk to us if you require any assistance on any of these Google tools –be it installation, analysis or strategic methods of using them to grow your businesses. And we work on real-time data that resonate in the moment and of course, in your context.
Looking forward to hearing from you – marketing@etereomedia.com.
To your success,
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