Business Builders

Making Google Work for You

Google - the search goliath that has swept the world by storm in only a few short years is best known for its large index of websites. However, most people don’t realize the true benefits of Google and what it can do for your company. In this article I will try to hit some of the major benefits that Google can provide for everyday small business owners.

1) Gmail - http://gmail.google.com/mail/help/about.html - Gmail is a like your yahoo or hotmail account on steroids. It would only make sense that gmail has the best search capability to locate messages without having to sort them. If you have been using Yahoo or Hotmail for awhile now, you know how much of a pain this can be. Gmail also allows you to merge all of your mail accounts into one(sending and receiving). These 2 features alone can save mucho time. Gmail is also easily compatible with Google’s calendar and best of all its free.

2) Adsense - do you have a high traffic website? Adsense(if used properly) can help bring in some advertising dollars for your company. However, keep in mind that you should not liter your website with these. Besides degrading the overall appearance, there is always the chance that your advertiser could be advertising on your website with adwords. Not good. I highly recommend adsense if you run a blog or informational business. If you are selling a service or product, you need to utilize adwords.

3) Adwords - Google’s cash cow. You have seen these ads before - they are the ads that appear on the top and right side when you do a search in Google. They also appear on Google’s network of websites that have agreed to display there ads for a percentage of each click that is accrued. Adwords has sophisticated tools to help you recommend target words, allow you to target certain regions and much more. To learn more visit https://adwords.google.com/.

4) Analytics - Simple put, this tool allows you to track visitors to your website. Very useful in determining your target audience.

5) Page Creator - Need a simple website? Give Google page creator a whirl. It is very easy to learn and can get you buy if you need to post something very basic online.

6) Local Business Center - Get on the map! I’m sure you noticed by now that when you search for certain keywords, a map appears at the top listing local business in your area. Adding your business only takes a couple of minutes, is free and can allow you to show up at the top of the search engines. It’s also advisable to have your clients leave reviews for your company, this will help out with your presence. You can also create coupons in this area as well.

7) Google Calendar - this is an easy way to keep everything together. It ties in nicely with your mail and can be accessed from anywhere.

Other honorable mentions - Google has a wide variety of tools including online notebooks and document sharing capabilities. They also offer Google talk which will allow you to Instant Message(you can use this feature from the mail as well), PC-to-PC voice calls, file transfers and more.

I obviously just skimmed the surface with these topics but highly advise researching more about google and what it can do for you.