Google is one of the most popular platforms for marketing. You can use this medium to bring both organic and paid traffic to your website and gain access to new prospective customers from your website ranking. However, Google is a highly competitive platform and most businesses strive to get some visibility on it. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, you need to use a combination of well-planned marketing strategies.
If you have a good campaign in place, you’ll rank high on Google and get some much needed visibility. Google might seem complex and intimidating at first, but you’ll experience great success if you take time to understand the platform. Here are some tips on Google marketing that every business owner should know and practice.
Before you even attempt to market anything on Google or establish your presence on the search engine, optimise your website. If your website is slow, poorly structured, out-of-date, and doesn’t perform well on mobile platforms, no amount of marketing will help you. The quality of the website is the first thing Google will focus on when it indexes your page. Poor quality websites won’t rank high enough on the search engines results page to bring in much traffic.
When you search a company name, you’ll find some basic information about the company on the right hand corner of the search engine results page. This snippet usually includes the name and contact information of the business, some pictures, Google+ reviews, star ratings, etc. This is essentially free advertising and you should take advantage of it. You can claim your business through your Google Account. Here’s what you need to do:
Everyone who searches your company name will see this snippet of information so it’s a good idea to claim your business: verfiying and claiming your listing is a prerequisite for appearing in Google’s map listings. Such digital real estate in Google also adds legitimacy when prospects research you online.
The Name, Address, and Phone Number (“NAP”) data must be accurate. Misleading or inconsistent information can have a negative impact on your reputation and frustrate prospective customers. The NAP data can be inaccurate because it’s sourced from all your online properties and other areas. If you have created your own Google My Business listing, then even inconsistencies between address formatting (for example, using “Ave.” instead of “Avenue”) will probably confuse search engines and run the risk of harming your online visibility.
On occasions, your company’s NAP information can be sourced from your business listing in local online directories like Yellow Pages, your contact information on social media, and the information on your website. Google has been known to source information from these places and place it under your company name, even if you set up your own listing with accurate information. Additionally, members of the public can suggest changes to Google My Business listings and sometimes this can cause issues with online visibility. You need to check it monthly to make sure that information is accurate and then correct it if you find any mistakes.
If you own a website, you should have a Google Search Console account. This platform helps you keep an eye on the performance of your website. You can access incoming and outgoing traffic, keep up with any notifications from Google, and know if you’re red flagged or penalised immediately. Through Google’s Console Tools, you’ll also know how your visitors find you. That will help you create a more effective marketing campaign. The tools also help you optimise your website and make it more visible on Google so you should set it up and take some time to understand how it works.
PPC ads are a great way to get some visibility on search engine results pages. These ads occupy valuable on-screen real estate at the top of the SERP and immediately catch attention. You can target multiple keywords through different campaigns to maximise your presence and visibility on the search engine. If you don’t have an established online reputation and are a new business, you can use PPC ads as a way to gain foothold and draw audience. Just make sure you place a cap on your PPC budget and limit on the number of clicks per day. This ensures you don’t overspend on PPC marketing and have a healthy ROI.
The AdWords platform helps you create, manage, and monitor different PPC campaigns easily. You can create ads for different products, services, keywords, occasions, and even events. The AdWords platform is very sophisticated and allows you to keep track of campaign performance and expenses easily. It also provides regular reports so you can determine if your campaign is successful or if it requires improvements.
Keywords draw the attention of search engines. When people search for information online, they type in a combination of words and phrases in the search bar to get access to the most accurate information. For example, if you want to purchase a camera, you might type in “DSLR camera in (your location)”. This keyword will lead you to a few paid ads and a large number of organic results. If you want more organic traffic, you should include relevant keywords in your website content and blog posts.
The Google Keyword Planner helps you find the best keywords related to your industry. You can see the search volume, number of impressions, and other such bits of information that will help you choose the best keywords for your business. You can include these keywords naturally in your content to get organic search volume.
Google Alerts is a very useful tool but few business owners think to use it. You can set up an alert for specific keywords or your business name. The tool will alert you through an email or an RSS message whenever that keyword or business name is mentioned online. You can create alerts for your products and services as well. There’s no limit to how many alerts you can have as long as you can keep track of all of them.
Alerts help you manage your reputation and keep an eye on customer response to your brand. You can spot and respond to a negative review the quickly and show your prospects that you care about your customers through this system.
Every business owner with an online property should take time to learn about Google Analytics. This tool helps you keep track of your website performance, ad performance, and overall online presence. You can monitor the bounce rate on landing pages, know where your customers linger the most, keep track of abandoned carts, and analyse a visitor’s movement through your website. All of this information can help you improve your website performance and marketing campaign.
A good plan, some research, and consistent updates and improvements to the campaign will help you get ahead of the competition and develop a strong foothold in the industry. It’s important to establish your online presence on Google before you focus on other marketing campaigns because it will be your primary source of traffic.