Many people have varying opinions on Google. Some feel that it is
abhorrently evil, whereas others absolutely love it. People are divided
even further, however, when Google has an effect on their livelihood.
This tends to always raise the question of whether you can live without
Google or not.
There are many online businesses and websites that rely heavily on
Google, in fact I get to speak to many website owners who are in this
situation. I have had a few people get in touch with me who are angry
that “
Google has killed my business” and vow to turn their back
on it forever. Perhaps you have had a similar experience, but
whatever your feelings are towards it unfortunately your business can’t
live without Google.
Personally, I am somewhere in the middle area when it comes to my
views on Google. At times I worry about the monopoly that it has over
the internet and the huge influence that it has, however as a website
owner I value the tools and global reach that it can give.
There is no real point in trying to fight against Google as you will
inevitably lose. What you can do though is work with it (and its vast
array of tools) to help promote your online business. That is why I
decided to put together this list of reasons why your business can’t
live without Google.
1. Google Search Traffic
Whilst Bing, Yahoo and other search engines are great, nothing comes close to the huge behemoth that is Google. Approximately
65-70% of all global internet searchers are done via the Google search engine.
What does this mean? Well simply that if your online business
intends to drive traffic, it needs to make the most of Google. That is
where the vast majority of people are coming from, so why fight against
it.
Admittedly, even if you do everything that Google says, things can go
wrong when they make updates to their search settings. This can cause
huge variations in traffic (i.e. the Penguin update
cause many sites to lose lots of traffic), but unfortunately you just
have to grin and bear it. If future updates do have a knock on effect
on your site, try not to be angry (as that will get you nowhere),
instead just work towards fixing the issues. Believe me, this has
happened to one of my sites and the only thing that helped was to work
WITH Google.
2. Google Analytics Data
Since Google is used by the vast majority of people, it provides the
most accurate traffic statistics. There are many other alternative
analytics programs and website data services that you could use, such
as;
Alexa, Open Site Explorer,
Piwik,
Parsely and many, many more.
One HUGE advantage that Google Analytics
has over many of its competitors is that it can link in with other
Google services (most of which are listed below) that help give you a
better insight to how your website is performing.
I wouldn’t recommend that you rely solely on Google Analytics, as it
helps to have more than one way to assess your site, but I would
definitely suggest that it is a tool that you absolutely can’t live
without.
3. Google Webmaster Tools
If Google Analytics is focused on the performance of your website, then Google Webmaster Tools is focused on the health of it.
Essentially it allows you to keep track of things like;
- Crawl errors,
- Crawl Stats,
- Malware,
- Sitemap stats,
- HTML Improvements,
- Site speed,
- …and much more.
Check out our beginners guide to Google Webmaster Tools for more information and watch the video below.
4. YouTube
We have already established that Google is the biggest search engine
online, but what would you guess is the second biggest? Bing? Yahoo?
Baidu? Nope, it’s none of those. It is actually YouTube!
OK, so technically YouTube is not a search engine, but in terms of
the number of daily searches made, YouTube outdoes all of the other
search engines. This is one of the main reasons why
Google paid $1.65 billion for it back in 2006, which is a bargain for what it is probably worth now.
What does this mean for your online business? Well, there is a HUGE
source of traffic to utilize by introducing video to your marketing
strategy. Not only can people find you via the normal search engine,
but they can find you via videos on YouTube that you have uploaded that
point back to your main site. What is even better is that you can embed
your videos onto your main site as well, so people can watch them
there.
There are many types of videos that you can create for your site,
the point is that it helps to market your business. You can even earn
money from your videos via YouTube’s partner program. In fact some
individuals have been able to ditch their jobs and work full time online
making YouTube videos, so it is well worth doing.
5. Google Keyword Planner
In order to make the most use of Google to send traffic your way, you
need to figure out what people are searching for online. This is where
the
keyword planner tool comes in, as it allows you to search for popular keywords and keyphrases that are being used.
This allows you to create content, whether that is in the form of a
blog post, a YouTube video, a slideshow, etc. that will help to attract
traffic. Your time is precious, so spending that time creating content
that has a good chance of being found is infinitely better than creating
content that has little or no chance of people finding it.
This is definitely a tool that you need to start using!
6. Google Trends
Google trends is quite similar to the keyword planner tool, in the
fact that you can find what people are searching for online. The main
difference though is that Google Trends focuses on what people are
searching for right now and how popular that search term has changed
over time.
This is not only great for (again) targeting your content for people,
but also finding what people are searching for within your niche. It
can also be great for choosing a website niche in the first place, as
then you know what sort of size your target audience is.
7. Google+
Facebook and Twitter tend to grab all the headlines, but Google+ is arguably the most important
and influential search engine around at the moment. You could say that
it is still in its infancy, but it is, without doubt, growing very
quickly.
What makes it so influential is the fact that it is linked with
Google’s other products, particularly its search engine. You can now
find listings that your Google+ friends have shared in the past or see
your friends/colleagues posts in the SERPs when you wouldn’t normally.
Google authorship
is also closely linked to Google+, allowing a small picture to appear
next to your content in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). This
has been proved to increase the clickthrough rate to websites that have
this enabled, making it even more important that you set yours up.
You can also setup individual Google+ pages for your business. Not
only is this another way for people to find you online, but it also
provides additional information next to your main site listing on
Google.
8. Google Maps
If you want to find where a place is, where do you tend to go first?
Google maps is the go-to place for the vast majority of people online.
Again, where Google maps differs to many of its competitors is that
it is linked with the other Google tools/services. When you search for a
place, not only will you find where it is, you will get (or at least if
it is setup properly);
- A link to their website,
- Address,
- Phone Number,
- Google+ link,
- Photos,
- Street view,
- Reviews,
- Directions,
If you are a business with a physical location, you cannot neglect Google maps. It is simply a service that you MUST use in order for people to find you.
9. Google AdWords
A key way of attracting more people to your website is by advertising
online. Now whilst you can attract lots of people by advertising on
specific sites or even offline, one of the best is to advertise on
Google itself. This is done by using AdWords.
I would explain how the whole process works, but it is much easier if
you just watch the video below that describes how it all works.
10. Google Translate
Whilst there are a lot of people in the world that speak and read
English, there are many more who don’t. The greatest thing about the
internet is that it has made the whole world smaller. People from all
corners of the world can find your website with a few clicks, but that
doesn’t mean that they can understand everything.
This is where Google translate comes in. It is by far the most used
translation tool online, making it simple for people of other
nationalities to read your content. If people use Google Chrome (more
on that later) then that translation process is done automatically when a
website is opened. Even if you use another browser, you can install
the Google translate app/extension and that will work also. You can
even install an app/button on your website itself, allowing people to
translate your site when they land on it.
This Google tool is one that you don’t really need to worry about,
though arguably it is one of the most important ones. This very site
attracts readers from every continent in the world (which is amazing!),
so I owe a lot to the translate tool.
11. Android
Android devices account for approximately
75% of the global smartphone/tablet market.
Since mobile internet usage is dramatically increasing, it is vitally
important that websites are “mobile friendly” for people to view whilst
on the go.
The Google Play store is also one of the largest mobile app stores
online, meaning that if your business intends to make its mark within
the app market, it needs to do so for Android devices. The Apple store
for iPhone/iPad users and Windows app store are equally as important,
but since Android holds such a hold on the market you can’t afford to
neglect them.
12. Google Hangouts
More and more people are making use of video calls (or video
conferencing) to connect with other people. Not only is this great to
keep in touch with distant family members, but it is also a good way to
connect with clients, business contacts and colleagues.
Skype is currently the market leader in this field, but Google
Hangouts isn’t far behind. Google’s smart move was to link it up with
YouTube, allowing people to record and publish their video conversations
to their YouTube channels for free. This is great for businesses as
they can easily record video conferences and interviews to share with
their wider community.
13. Google AdSense
There are many different ways to monetize a website,
advertising is just one method that you can use. AdSense can be a good
choice for many sites, though affiliate marketing and banner
advertising are just as, if not better alternatives.
What AdSense can offer though is targeted adverts that fit in with
your other content. This can encourage people to click on them more,
which in turn helps to increase your revenue.
14. Google Drive
Cloud storage is a very competitive industry at the moment, what with
companies like Dropbox, Amazon Cloud Drive, Box, Microsoft OneDrive and
Apple iCloud, to name a few, all competing for the same people.
Google Drive is one of the most widely used cloud storage services,
simply because it makes it easy to store and share all of your documents
between all of your different devices. This makes it perfect for
businesses as they can share files between different people.
Google drive works seamlessly between Gmail, Google Docs, Google+,
Android and other Google tools, making it simple to access what you are
after.
15. Google Chrome
If you run a website you will know how important it is to test to see
whether everything works across multiple browsers. Since Google Chrome
is arguably the most widely used browser online, it pays to make sure
that it works perfectly on there first.
Google Chrome also features on their Android system, making it all
the more important that you test your site to see if everything
functions correctly.
So Can Your Business Live Without Google?
Google is being incredibly smart by building and linking all of their
tools and services together to create a gigantic network. Arguably
though, it is because of this huge network that so many people are
concerned about Google’s hold on the internet.
Whatever your personal views are about Google as a company, it is
this network that is the reason why you should be working WITH Google
and not against them, as you wouldn’t get very far without it. It
allows you to reach the most people online, with the greatest ease, with
the best integrated tools at your disposal. At the end of the day, it
makes good business sense.
What are your views on Google as a whole? Which Google
tools/services could you not live without? We want to hear your views,
so please get in touch below via the comment system.
