Google’s mission statement is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” And with 65.5% of the search engine market share, if your customers are looking for you, chances are many are using Google to do it. They offer a number of free tools that can help you optimize your visibility online and increase your success in the SEO world. Let’s have a look at 3 free google tools you may want to explore:

 

Google My Business

google-my-business.jpgGMB is a free tool that allows you to have some control over what people see and read when they google your business. If anybody has ever searched for you online or written a google review, then likely there is already a GMB profile for your business. If you don’t ‘claim’ it then the content is all driven by your customers and information google can find about you online which can sometimes be inaccurate and/or incomplete.  Once you have claimed your GMB account, you can ensure information is accurate, comment on reviews people have left, upload pictures you want people to see when they search for your business, etc.

If you are starting to tread the waters of SEO, or just trying to understand how people find you, GMB can be a great place to start. Google will email you updates on your profile including top search queries used to find you, how many people visited your website from the search and how many asked for directions.


Google Search Console

google search console.JPGIf you look after your own website and want to know more about how it is performing, Google Search Console (GSC) can be a great free tool to take advantage of. On the technical side of things, once you have this set up for your site, google will email you if there are any technical errors on the site. Such as redirect errors or broken code. In terms of performance, you can also find out what pages and keywords your website ranks for in Google and what your Click-Through-Rate is, meaning how many people saw your website in their search results and actually clicked through to your site. If your business has any online competition this can be hugely valuable and as you are trying new things out on your site, this tool can help measure the effectiveness of those changes.


Google Analytics

analytics-smb-benefit.jpgOK, now we are getting into the more technical stuff but if you are in the race to get on that coveted first page of google for certain searches, Google Analytics can help give you the information you need to get there. This tool can be very in-depth and used by large companies with online marketing campaigns BUT it can also be simple and provide just the right information for a small business. You can customize it to show you as little or as detailed information as you would like. Why bother setting it up? It’s free. All you need is a website and a Google profile. It will start tracking and keeping data on your website as soon as you set it up. So, maybe you won’t use it much today, but in 6 months to a year as your business grows and you want to start focusing on your ecommerce or website traffic, it’s all set up and ready for you.


Tracey Snow, Economic Development Officer

Tracey Snow Headshot.pngLooking for support in setting up these tools? The team at L&A Economic Development can help!
Call us today at 613-354-4883.

 

 

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