Free Google Tools You Probably Didn’t Know About

So here’s the thing. You know you need to be online marketing for your small business, but you don’t want to spend a ton of money on it. I can dig that. I’m with you, my friend.

If only there is some kind of magic-free tool that almost anyone could use and would help me reach more people. The answer is definitely, through Google.

Maria Elena Duron, who’s with us in the Coach Yu show, is actually one of the 14 Google Trainers, and in this session, she talks about Google tools that you can use for business just like she did. 

What are all the different Google tools?

While there’s a lot of myths out there and you might be aware of a few. For example, the business profile on Google search and maps that you may know as Google my business or GMB is only for businesses with a storefront but it’s not as it is also available for home-based businesses.

Google places is under that service that allows businesses to manage their online presence. In addition to an enhanced Google profile, you can use the account to claim and edit your business information on Google Maps, including user-generated photos of your storefronts.

Google merchants can be utilized like Google shopping and images as they show up in the search tab. It’s available almost anywhere in the world, which makes it a great tool for people to show up and to be seen in just one other place. You would think everybody is on the same social network or looking at the same platforms but no, we’re not, we’re all in different places. 

These tools make businesses more valuable when it comes to lending credibility and verification. Of course, we wouldn’t forget Google search that is considered the biggest library on the world wide web because of its verification feature. 

Maria’s strong advocate: if you’re not measuring, you’re not marketing.

With Google analytics, you are given a great way to measure your results. Just link your Google analytics with your business profile and it will give you a chance to look at the demographics, a little bit of the geographics of who your customers are, and now you can really start measuring.

You can give yourself a baseline first to see what it’s doing now and then start looking to see if there are some improvements as you go. And the result will usually show a lot of improvement because you’ll start seeing that people see the information they’re interested in.

Is it something an ordinary person can do?

Absolutely! You can go to grow.google.com, or search on Youtube and you’ll discover guides that can help like Google Academy, where you can see workshops and recordings making you knowledgeable about Google.

If you’re a small business owner that’s too busy, there are lots of Google partners who can support you and do it for you. You can connect with them, as these guys have a team to put the work together and set everything up for you.

Google is the number one search engine 

With you putting in the information about your business and Google verifying it, we are sure that the information is correct and with more confirmation, then the higher opportunity to be visible when somebody who’s searching for what your product/service/solution is, because your business will show up.

But I don’t have a physical office, what do I do? Do I still create a Google my Business Account? 

Yes, what you can do is enter your physical address to be able to get a postcard. It looks like a W2 with perforations on the side with a confirmation code. Once you’ve confirmed, publish the address and it will show that you serve that area and from there it gives you the options if you want people to come by your location or not. Once you are verified, then you can unpublish the address. 

What are some of the common mistakes that people make around things like this?

• Thinking that you are competing with your own website, and is why you don’t want to do a business profile.

 You are not competing with yourself but think that you have been allowed to have two or three horses in the same race, giving yourself a better opportunity to win the race and win the business by becoming more visible to your customers according to where they’re looking at. The key is making sure that everything is back to your site so on your business profile, make sure you have your website link there. Treat Google like a landing page that’s filled with Google juice and point the customer to your site. 

•  Sending your customer to your site’s homepage and trying to show them everything

 Don’t send your customer to your homepage. That’s a big mistake you can make, not just in your business profile, but also in Google ads. Build your credibility first by taking your customers where you told them you’re going to take them. Earn the right first while you are on their page and then take them out. Maybe they’re more interested in other things that you have to offer, but first, take them where you told them you’re going to take them. 

With your Google my business account, you will be given a free one-page website that you can link not to your homepage, but some other details. You also have the opportunity to link your website, have add-ons like Learn More, activating different buttons depending on how you customize it. 

What else do you need?

Just get started, make sure that you have all of those. And if you’re not, then start looking. Know what’s happening and the more you explore, I am sure you’ll catch the excitement.

Maria Elena Duron, who’s with us in the Coach Yu show, is actually one of the 14 Google Trainers, and she’s open to talk about Google tools. She was chosen because she served clients and was able to market as well.  It’s nice to be able to see and be able to speak for small businesses and advocate for what’s being launched.

What are all the different Google tools?

There’s a lot of myths out there and you might be aware of a few. For example, like the business profile on Google search and maps, many know it as Google my business or GMB. Google places is a Google service that allows businesses to manage their online presence. In addition to an enhanced Google profile, they can use it to claim and edit the business information on Google Maps, including user-generated photos of storefronts.

Google merchants can be utilized like Google shopping and images as they show up in the search tab. It’s available almost anywhere in the world, which makes it a great tool for people to show up and to be seen in just one other place. You would think everybody is on the same social network or looking at the same platforms but no, we’re not, we’re all in different places. 

This makes businesses become more valuable when it comes to lending credibility and verification. Of course, we wouldn’t forget Google search – .Maria calls that the library, because it’s the biggest library of the world wide web. 

Maria’s strong advocate: if you’re not measuring, you’re not marketing.

Of course there’s Google analytics. That’s a great way to measure results.

A lot of people will ask us, why are we out there speaking and presenting this for Google?

Link your Google analytics with your business profile. They can link together and now you can see what happens when they come to that page of your site and watch the next action.  It gives you a chance to look at the demographics, a little bit of the geographics of who they are, and now you can really start measuring. Give yourself a baseline first to see what it’s doing now. And then start looking to see if there’s some improvements as you go. 

Result? We’ll have lots of improvement because you’ll start seeing that people see information they’re interested in.

Is it something an ordinary person can do?

Absolutely! You can go to grow.google.com, or search on Youtube and you’ll discover guides that can help like Google Academy, where you can see workshops and recordings making you knowledgeable about Google.

If you’re a small business owner that’s too busy, there are lots of Google partners who can support you and do it for you. You can connect with them, as these guys have a team to put the work together and set everything up.

Google is the number one search engine for this reason 

The information is correct, and that is because you, a small business owner puts information on it provided that Google verified it. So the more that there’s confirmation, you know, it’s you and the information is correct, then the higher you have the opportunity to be visible when somebody who’s searching for what your product service or solution is, you’ll show up.

You’ll be more visible.

Other businesses don’t tell people about themselves and that’s wrong.

Each of you should have a Google my business – you’re still you and you’re still here just like you speak about. Just like me, I’m still Dennis with my personal branding, and you may leave your firm and go somewhere else. Let’s say we’re in different cities, but we don’t have a physical office. What do we do?

Should we still create a Google My Business profile? Yes.

Some people call it Google listing, but what they can do is they can then they’ll, they’ll actually enter in their physical address to be able to get a postcard. It looks like a W2 with perforations on the side -you’re going to look for the confirmation code there. Once you’ve confirmed, what you’ll do then is publish the address and you’ll show that you serve the area. It gives you the options if you want people to come by your location or not. Wherever you are, you can designate that, that way you can get confirmed and verified. Once that happens, you now at least show you serve the area.

What are some of the common mistakes that people make around things like this?

• When they’re competing with their own website, they don’t want to do a business profile.

I don’t want to compete with myself, but really that’s a different frame of mind. Think about that. You are actually

having the opportunity to have two or three races to your horses at the same time, giving yourself a better opportunity

to win the race and win the business, and becoming visible to your customers according to where they’re looking at.

The key is making sure that everything is back to your site.

So on your business profile, make sure you have your website link there.

Like a landing page that’s filled with Google juice and pointed to a page on their site. Don’t make the mistake of

sending it to your homepage. That’s a big mistake they make, not just in their business profile, but also in Google ads

as they want to take them to the homepage and show them everything.

• But it’s really more important to build your credibility and take them where you told them you’re going to take them.

Now you earn the right once they’re on their page to take them out. Maybe they’re more interested in other things

that you have to offer, but first take them where you told them you’re going to take the free one page website that

comes with the GMB profile. You want to say, you want to link from there, not to your homepage, but to some other

detailed pictures,

In your business profile, you have the opportunity to just put your website! 

I encourage you to put your websites while linking and directing it to your homepage. And with that you can have

add-ons like Learn More, activating different buttons depending on how you customize it. 

I’ve seen people post about a lot of things, posts like they want to celebrate in the highlight a team member, or they’re

talking about a new product, and it makes it a lot of fun.

You can do that with a free site and it wouldn’t be competing with your sites.

What else do we need?

Get started, make sure that you have all of those. And if you’re not, then start looking.

Know what’s happening and if you explore, you’ll definitely catch the excitement.