Google is king.
If you are a consumer where do you turn to when you want to find something online?
Google.
If you are a local business or a major global corporation where do you want to be found?
Google.
Anything involving the internet directly involves Google. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about organic search or paid ads — Google owns the majority of the top real estate in every online category.
Google is so much more than just a search engine though, and they have so many free apps and tools available for business owners and website owners to take full advantage of, but some are still weary, most likely due to things they may have read about in the past.
Years ago, there were several SEOs that suggested using Google Analytics or Webmaster Tools was allowing Google to spy on your website and penalize you. This was so ridiculous, yet many believed this and never took advantage of the tool sets available.
I have put together a list of 10 totally free apps and tools you can use, provided at no charge by Google, which all have the potential to have a positive impact on your online marketing efforts. It’s time to stop fearing Google products and embrace them, as they are amazing. Google is such a powerhouse with unlimited resources (and funds), which is how they are able to provide such amazing tools like this for free.
Give these Free Google Tools a look and jump on the ones that you feel can have a major impact on your marketing campaigns.
1. Google Analytics
Google Analytics should be installed on every website you are using for your business, from your main company site to any landing pages that are used for lead generation. The data and information that Google Analytics provides you allows you to see the behavior of every visitor that you drive to your website through paid campaigns, as well as every visitor that lands on your site from organic searches and referral re-directs, such as links on other websites.
This information, when combined with setting goals within your account, can show you where you most valuable traffic is coming from and what traffic sources don’t generate and conversions or revenue for your business. From there you can make adjustments to drive more traffic from your higher converting sources. Overall, this will result in more sales and profits.
While Google Analytics is simple to install, it takes some digging to really see all of its features. I would suggest you prepare for a steep learning curve and dedicate a good chunk of time learning to master this, as it can be the most valuable data you have access to.
2. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is the modern day version of Webmaster Tools, which basically has evolved, and its old functions along with news ones have been built into Search Console. By verifying your domain it’s brought into Search Console and you can view information about your website’s health, as Google sees it.
In here you can see how many pages of your website has been submitted to Google and how many are actually indexed by the search engine. If you have an XML sitemap installed on your site then all of your URLs should at least be submitted. If there is a low percentage indexed then you need to figure out why. It’s usually due to Google thinking they are low quality and thin.
The reason I like Search Console the most is that it tells you what keywords and search terms made your website display in the organic results. This tells you what terms are being searched and what you should be targeting in your SEO efforts. You can also identify new keywords to go after that you may not have thought about in the past.
3. Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner can be used to help you discover new keyword ideas and to validate any ideas you might have. While it’s a tool designed to assist with pay-per-click advertising, you can still use it to gauge the search volume and competition for certain keywords.
If a keyword has difficult competition on AdWords then it most definitely will have high competition organically. I like to use the Keyword Planner tool to help identify terms that have low competition. Even if they have low search volume they still provide a good opportunity, especially if your domain has decent authority and you can rank fairly quickly.
When you start to accumulate top rankings for low competition keywords your traffic number increases exponentially and eventually your sales and revenue follow.
4. Google PageSpeed Insights
Google PageSpeed Insights is something that you should already have experience with, and if you don’t you need to make sure you run your website though it ASAP. The speed at which your website initially loads plays a major role in where you sit organically.
Google’s objection is to provide its users with the most relevant information pertaining to their search and deliver it in a way that provides a pleasant user experience. After all, Google hasn’t morphed into the top search engine by providing poor results. They are a billion-dollar company and have no plans to ever lose that dominant position.
If your website isn’t fully loaded in less than 2 seconds you have problems. So many people use clunky themes and install dozens of poorly optimized plugins, which all contribute to a slow website. Google will tell you what is causing slow load times and you can attempt to make the changes yourself if you have some coding and development knowledge or you can hire a freelancer to make the adjustments.
5. YouTube
YouTube is the second largest search engine only behind it’s big brother, Google. This fact alone is reason to throw it into your marketing mix, but the real benefit is video. Video content is easier for the end-user to consume and it’s quickly becoming their preferred content format.
If you put a long-form blog post up against a video, the video is always going to perform better. Why read when you can watch and be entertained, right? This is why so many companies are using video explainers on their home pages to do all of the selling. You are able to deliver a far more entertaining and impactful marketing message, which in turn converts more traffic.
Optimizing videos for search is a little different than text content, so you will want to learn what YouTube looks for in terms of descriptions and titles. You will notice that as a video becomes more popular and receives more views and engagement it’s then exposed to a larger organic audience, so focus on getting a lot of early traction. You can send out video URLs to your email list and post them on social media to spark that early engagement.
6. Google My Business
Google My Business is a must-have for any local business with a physical presence. They really only want brick and mortar locations listed, but if you have a strong virtual office address you can usually get listed as long as you have the ability to receive mail.
Google has recently blacklisted some virtual offices and using PO Boxes won’t work any longer. Not only does this help your local rankings, as it’s the info Google pulls for its top map listings for location-based searches, but several other major directories and info portals pull the Google listing data as well.
Claiming your listing if you have a physical location is simple, and even if you are an e-commerce store without a storefront I would suggest trying to game the system and get listed. I know of several brands that don’t even operate in the U.S. but have multiple listings in major cities because they got very creative.
7. Google Trends
Google Trends helps you identify popular searches, and if you stay on top of it, especially if you are in a broad niche, you can be the first to publish content on hot topics within your industry. This is a little growth hack that many large companies use, which results in more organic traffic. They do this in hopes of it eventually converting more leads and sales.
In the SEO industry, for example, back in the day when Google was releasing updates they were instantly being named, referencing an animal. So, terms like “Google penguin update” and “Google hummingbird update” were trending at the time. The SEO and marketing blogs that were first to publish in-depth and long-form content on these topics were able to capitalize and pull in huge organic traffic numbers since they were the first to have quality content indexed around these topics.
Then, once there, they simply linked out to other major resources as they appeared on the topics. This strategy requires that you not only constantly monitor the trends within your niche, but also publish content almost instantly. It’s not easy, but doable if you are dedicated and stay on top of it.
8. Google Alerts
Google Alerts is simple to set up and every business should at the very least have alerts set up that monitors their company name. So, any time content is published containing your business name you will be notified. This is great for reputation management, allowing you to put out fires quickly, as well as help you in your link building.
For example, if you notice that a blog has mentioned your business you can reach out right away and ask that they link to your website. If you are a popular business this can help you acquire dozens of extra links every month, and they are natural, which Google loves.
You can also set up alerts for competitors, allowing you to see where they are securing links from so you can mirror their link building strategy if they are outranking you. Some niches will also benefit from commenting on relevant blog posts, where you are able to leave a link back to your product or service. This is more of a traffic generating strategy than link building, as most comment links are no-follow.
9. Google Voice
Google Voice allows you to have a dedicated number that you can use for voice calls and texting, for free. This is great for those just starting and want to eliminate one business expense. You don’t want to use your personal cell phone number, so this is a nice alternative. It today’s digital age a lot of businesses don’t even publish their phone numbers.
The best use I have seen for Google Voice is creating a special “text message line” that can be used for things like customer service, order updates, etc. People love texting and would rather communicate that way even over live-chat. You can have an employee monitor this on a desktop computer or mobile device, making it very easily monitored.
You can even create push-to-text calls-to-action on your website that can help you close customers that just need a little more convincing. Today, texting is such a major communication method, and this allows you to implement it in your business effortlessly.
10. Google Translate
Google Translate can instantly transform content from one language to another, which gives you the opportunity to rank organically for several different languages after writing just one post. For brands that are worldwide or want to target visitors in other countries this is a great way to do so without risking a duplicate content penalty.
I have seen several blogs create different versions for specific countries and just publish them on separate sub-domains. This allows you to replicate all of your header and footer info in each specific language and also your sidebar calls-to-action.
If you go this route, you will want to spend some time to create separate email lists for opt-ins coming from each language. While this is a little more work, it can blow your organic traffic number through the roof, as well as increase your ad revenue and email subscribers. If you have the opportunity to monetize traffic from all over the world this is very well worth the time investment.
Conclusion
“Google” should not be a word that instantly drives fear throughout your body, as many online marketers understand its importance, yet cringe when they hear its name. If you are trying to game the SERPs using blackhat SEO, then yeah, Google is not your best friend.
But, if you are trying to run an online marketing campaign the right way, then Google has several tools and apps that you can use to improve your results drastically, and they are all 100% free to use.
Everything above can be accessed and utilized with one single Google account. I’m not saying you need to use them all, but they can all be super helpful, and I suggest you at least give them a look. You have nothing to lose — they are all completely free.
What are your favorites and what Google tools have helped your online marketing campaigns the most? Let me know your thoughts below in the comments.
