Six Step Guide to Understanding Google Tools

Why is Google important for website owners?

When it comes to how people find your website, there is one tool that should undoubtedly be a part of your strategy and that tool is, of course, Google.

Google is by far the most used search engine, consistently holding around 90% market share of the global search engine market. How often have you heard “just Google it”?

They are always at the forefront of search engine technology, making it much easier for users to find the best results online, whatever it is they may be searching for. However, it would be a little one sided if they focused solely on the end user.

Over their many years in search Google has crafted a balance between offering customers the best results and providing all websites with equal opportunity to show in relevant searches. Information is key in the website industry, and Google has made this readily available to all websites through their tools!

Google has created a range of tools to help place your website in the right type of searches, as well as tracking and monitoring any progress you make!

Many of these features are standalone tools in Google itself, but Storbie has built integrations with the more complicated ones to make your life that much easier.

Check out the top 6 Google Tools that are a must have in 2021!

Google My Business Listing 

Google My Business is an important piece of your online business profile. Think of it as an all-encompassing digital business card. From your hours, contact information, location, reviews, and so much more - this is where your customer can access core information about your business. 

It is one of the strongest reflections of your business, and users often use these listings to work out how to reach a business, or whether they are even worth reaching in the first place.  

So, take a moment to ask yourself what your listing says about your business? If it doesn’t align with the message you want your customers to hear then maybe it’s time to give that listing a bit of a refresh. 

Learn more about Google My Business here

Google Search Console  

Google Search Console provides you with insight into how Google perceives your website. As the name suggests, all the data it collects is around your website’s relationship with the Google search engine. 

It tracks the different searches that your website shows for and how it ranks for each of these searched queries. Each time your website is registered as being relevant for a search, whether it is the top result to display, or hidden away in the shadowy place that is the second page of Google’s search results! 

Google Search Console collates this information and provides you with detailed reports and resources to help you measure your website’s performance. It highlights the pages that rank highly for certain queries, and the other that could use a little extra work. 

This information is an absolute goldmine! Highlighting key opportunities to help you to get your website in front of the right type of customers as frequently as possible. 

Verifying your Storbie site with Google Search Console

Google Analytics 

When it comes to reviewing your website's performance, Google Analytics provides a much more in-depth story! 

While it's easy to see your website sales in your Storbie dashboard, this doesn't paint the full picture of how your website is performing. Your website could be receiving an abundance of traffic that is serving your business in other ways.

Google Analytics gives you visibility to understand where customers are accessing your website from, what pages they visit, and where they drop off. It breaks down your customer types and their activity to provide you with data that can then be used to improve your website’s performance! 

While you can use Google Analytics to track right down into the depths of interactions of your websites, there are two key things you should start tracking right away: 

How people are finding your website

First, look at your user acquisition and identify where the traffic on your website is coming from. You can easily filter to see the sources to see which webpages or platforms, such as Google, Facebook and so on, are sending traffic to your website as well as the medium, such as social posts, search, referrals or paid advertising. 

Analysing website page performance

Then explore your top landing pages and viewed pages to see which pages people are finding and clicking through to and the pages that are being visited the most overall. This can help you identify popular pages at any given time, and pages that might need some additional work. If you don’t know which content is helping you connect with your customers online then you’re essentially flying blind. Analytics gives you the insights you need to double down on what’s working and tweak the content that isn’t resonating. 

Set up Google Analytics 4 for your website

Tag Manager  

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is an advanced analytics tool that enables you to setup custom tracking of the actions people are taking when they’re on your website. It allows you to capture more detailed and targeted information in Google Analytics than you get with a standard analytics tracking tag.

You can track specific events or movements on your website, such as:  

• When a customer clicks a specific link
• When customers scroll down a certain % of an individual page 
• Set up remarketing tags to direct ads to customers that have visited certain pages on your website 

If you are already using Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager enables you to analyse the details to fine tune your website navigation.  

Connecting your tag manager account to Storbie is simple with our integration. There is a bit of a learning curve to get the tracking configured within tag manager but if you’re wanting to get down to the details of what is working and what isn’t this tool is worth the effort.  

Add Google Tag Manager to your Storbie site 

Merchant Center   

Storbie's new integration with Google Merchant Centre enables you to get your products listed on the world's most visited website - Google.   

Displaying products in Google breaks down the barriers between online shoppers and your website's product range, making your products more accessible by placing them in front of customers right as they are searching within Google. 

Our integration creates a live product feed between your website and Google Merchant Centre, allowing your product information to update and display within the search engine itself. Whether a customer is looking for a particular product, or a range, or even just your business – these listings have a chance to be placed right in front of them as they are searching! 

This feature vastly increases the visibility of your products and can help to generate further interest in your online ranges. We've already seen customers increase their product page visits and sales from Google Merchant Centre – and with our integration, they can simply set it up and let it run in the background! 

Learn more about Storbie's Google Merchant Centre integration

Google Ads 

Google Ads are the final key to the puzzle, giving your website that final push to make sure it is always in the right place at the right time.  

Google Ads allow you to specify what customer types you want your website to show for, as well as choosing what the advert says and how it looks. This allows you to create very tailored ads to a niche group of customers and capture their interest right away! 

There are two main categories of Google ads which you can use to promote your business across a whole lot of digital mediums:  

Search Ads

As the name suggests, search ads are used to push your website to the top of search results. These ads display at the top and the bottom of a page of Google search results. You can spot them due to the “Ad” next to the website link. 

These ads show your website link to people who are searching for keywords that you have decided are relevant to your business. There’s an art to choosing the right keywords and making the most of you advertising budget here, but that’s a subject for another article. The main takeaway here is that if you want to capture people’s attention when they’re researching about your product or service category, search ads can help you do just that. 

Display Ads

Have you ever gone on to a website, and noticed the flashy ad graphics on the side of the page? Chances are, this was from a Google Display Ad!

These ads are less direct, and while you might not be reaching customers that are actively searching for what you offer, you are still able to reach a targeted audience. Google stores a huge amount of demographic and interest data about internet users and they use this to show your ads to people who are most likely to find them interesting. This is a great way to expand awareness of your brand and drive traffic, which will boost the overall effectiveness of your website.

Google has really solidified itself as a portal to the rest of the internet and that means they’re your best friend when it comes to standing out online. Most of these tools are free to use and pretty user friendly. Plus if you’re stuck, there’s a whole range of guides, tutorials and support to help you out. So the only question that remains is which tool you’re going to start with? 

Learn more about Google Advertising