When we talk about Google tools, we have to understand that all marketing efforts ‘are centered around creating highly specific messages that are subsequently inserted into the right content. This content is then disseminated over a set of channels. This will, in turn, enable the messages’ outreach onto the target audience.
There was a time when one had to think a lot before deciding precisely which channel to use, and also what kind of message to create and later on, convey to the target market. Moreover, you had to conduct a lot of research regarding your audience. It was not easy to understand what was going on in the consumer’s mind. Companies conducted qualitative and quantitative research surveys and focus groups to understand their consumers.
This was a ground-up approach, one that means that the online marketer has to understand his target audience at a very deep level including psychographics, demographics, and other factors.
However, Google has changed the whole paradigm altogether. Now, the actual online marketing strategy, as well as all the massive and extensive homework required in its drafting and implementation is irrelevant. This is because it’s been superseded by the channel itself. Now thanks to Google Analytics and a host of other tools, most online marketers acquire their valuable data courtesy its traffic analysis tools.
Let us take a look at some of the more important and useful Google tools that can help your marketing efforts:
Google AdSense
This tool works best for a niche website. If you are into the affiliate marketing game or even do content development, you can earn some income by using Google AdSense. Attracting even a moderate amount of traffic will help you earn your keep.
All you have to do is to just simply place a shortcode in the content, sidebar or the header of the website and you will be able to earn some passive income. Of course, the amount that you earn will always depend on the topic you choose as well as the number of visitors that you manage to attract.
Google’s AdWords
Suppose you have conducted a well-rounded and comprehensive search engine optimization SEO research. But regardless of how hard you try, you just can’t seem to get the kind of traffic you want with organic search traffic alone. This is the part where the Google AdWords tool comes into the picture.
If you successfully bid for the right keywords, you will inevitably gain a lot of qualified traffic. This way, you will be able to attract those high-quality leads that will convert and pay for your services. If you do it right, the conversions will easily exceed the total amount that you have spent on your ads. However, you must use only highly advanced targeting options when setting the location of your target audience. Furthermore, you should also clearly mention desktop browsers or mobile-friendly sites and other relevant criteria. This is very important if you want to attract the target audience you want.
Example
Imagine that you want to sell basketball equipment in Los Angeles. Now, you can purchase several keywords regarding your topic. But if you do not set the right location, you might be getting hits from sub-Saharan Africa instead of your home base. In this case, the whole exercise will be futile. Conversely, setting the right location will create the geographic barriers that will limit your search to your target market.
Google Alerts
This handy little tool allows you to easily keep on top of the stuff that matters to you. If you are looking for the very latest news regarding your favorite celebrity couple, Google Alerts will do the job. Similarly, it will also tell you whenever someone mentions your brand or any other items on the main Google search engine.
Once you set up your Google Alerts account, it will ensure that whenever you enter a specific search query, you will be sent a sample of the results. It will also give you the option to have all such results delivered regularly to your email address or even your RSS feed. This is an ideal way to keep up with the competition. Moreover, you can also check who is mentioning you and why.
Example
Imagine you sell a range of culinary products on Amazon. In this case, you will want to know when your products are being reviewed whether on Amazon or any social media sites dedicated to your product category. In case there are multiple bad reviews on a specific social media site (such as Facebook, for instance), you can answer to the reviewer, check their concerns, and rectify them. This way, you will be able to retain your brand loyalty better than ever before.
Google Blogger Platform
If you are looking for blogging software for your very first blog, you can’t go wrong with Google’s very own Blogger platform. It is a whole lot more convenient than most self-hosted blogging platforms such as WordPress, for instance. It has recently been overhauled and there are plenty of improvements that have taken place in the last few months alone. Add to that the fact that using Google’s own Blogger will link you to the world’s most powerful search engine.
After all, Google-owned companies will take precedence when it comes to the indexing of your blog posts. So, there is no harm in using this platform but plenty of advantages of using it. You can, of course, shift to other platforms that have more options later on. But this will certainly be a great head start.
Conclusion
It is very important to understand that all Google tools are ultimately just like any other software. You can use these tools, but you should keep in mind their limitations as well. It is ultimately your strategy and objective that will determine the utility of the Google tools you employ.
