Google is the most visited website in the whole wide world!
A unique place that connects users with information, places and businesses in seconds. Back in the day we went to the library to find information, used a map for directions and turned to the Yellow Pages or Thompson Local books to find businesses, now we use Google.
In fact we use Google for pretty much everything from asking why we can’t poop to where to donate a testicle – apparently so, who knew guys can do that?!
Above all though Google is a valuable tool to help customers find your business online. This is the ONE place where people are ACTIVELY LOOKING for what you have to offer, they are motivated, in the funnel and ready to say YES PLEASE. So let’s dive in and see how we can get you on there.
There’s 3 ways to get your business listed on Google:
- Google My Business page
- Organic listing
- Google Ads
Let’s start with the easy one, Google My Business page (GMB)
This is free and a must do for any business, whether you have a physical location/shop or not. It involves creating a simple overview of your business, adding a few photos and telling Google where you are based.
This is very important as it will ensure your business appears in the map section of Google (aka Places) when users search and are located near you. It also allows customers to leave reviews which influences future purchases and creates trust in your business. And you can add updates so that when a user searches for you they can see offers and your latest news in Google too.
This is what mine looks like in Search results.
Set up a Google My Business page for free here. It takes around 30 mins.
Now let’s move onto Organic listing
An organic listing is also free (kinda), it is the snippet in Google Search results that tells users who you are and what you do. It appears when Google deems that your website is relevant to the search query typed by the user. You can’t add this anywhere like you can with GMB, instead Google pulls the information from your website itself. There are ways to influence what information Google uses though. For example on WordPress you can add a plugin called Yeost and specify what you want the title and description to say.
Here’s mine. This appears when I search Digital Marketing Consultant Littlehampton.
So how do you make Google see your website as relevant for specific search queries and show your listing? Annoyingly you don’t just put a website live and magically appear on page 1 of Google, if only it were that easy. There are a tonne of things that influence where your website appears on Google (page 1, 2, 3 … 50) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is something that will help you stand more of a chance of appearing.
SEO is a complex process that involves 2 vital components: on-site SEO and off-site SEO.
On-site SEO means ensuring your website is built well and is optimised to allow Google to read it and match it to relevant search queries. This involves adding relevant keywords to your website urls and copy, adding quality content, labelling images correctly, ensuring it has a good user experience and a fast load speed among many other factors – there are over 200 factors that affect how your website is ranked!
Off-site SEO involves a lot of technical work building the authority of your website to help you rank higher than competitors. Usually businesses work with a specialist SEO agency for this. Many businesses with low budget start with on-site SEO and move to off-site if it’s within their budget, but some don’t bother.
SEO is a long term strategy to gain visibility online. It is not an overnight fix and an SEO agency can not guarantee specific keyword rankings in a desired time frame. Usually packages with a reputable SEO agency start at £800+ for a minimum of 6 to 12 month term.
There are a lot of unknowns and if your competitors are engaging in SEO activity too then this will affect your results. You can usually only expect to rank for a few keywords closely related to your business, 1 – 20, and it’s unlikely to get top spot.
Long term SEO is often expensive hence why I said kinda free, because it’s not really free when you consider all the work you need to do to get there and the investment an SEO agency requires!
This leads me nicely onto Google Ads
Google Ads are paid for, and are a quick way to get visibility on page one of Google without all the hassle and expense of SEO. I can build a campaign and be up and running in just a few hours.
For many businesses, advertising on Google is cost-effective because Google Ads lets you choose your budget and bids, as well as change them at any time. If something isn’t working you can stop it straight away, and if it is you can throw more money at it and see results thick and fast.
These ads are ideal for:
- new businesses who have no organic online visibility yet, but who have a website that they are desperate for the world to see
- businesses who can’t wait for an SEO strategy to start working because they need visibility in search engines NOW, Google Ads bridge the gap
- businesses who’s SEO strategy is working but they want to target more search terms and reach even more people in Search results (remember SEO typically only allows you to rank for a few core search terms)
Google Ads sit at the top of search results, on page 1, above all other listings and are the first thing a user sees when they search for something. On mobile there’s 2 ads taking up the entire screen, and on desktop there’s usually 3-4 taking up most of the page before organic listings can be seen – see below.
There are 2 types of ads to choose from:
1 – Google Search ads
These are text ads that appear above the organic listing. You can show these ads for as many search queries/keywords as you like, meaning the reach is far greater than for your organic listing. You can specify exactly what you want the ad to say and use several features to enhance the ad such as clickable links, telephone number, bullet points, reviews and star ratings.
2 – Google Shopping ads
These are the image ads that appear to the right of Search Ads. They are ideal for ecommerce stores and show an image, title and price. You can also run limited time offers.
It’s a common misconception that people don’t click Google Ads. Did you know that 65% of small to medium sized businesses have a Google Ads campaign and 46% of clicks go to the top three paid ads in search results?
Summary
Get your Google My Business Page set up and optimise your website. Then best case scenario would be to utilise a combination of SEO and Google Ads to maximise your visibility on Google.
Think about it, if you have a Search Ad at the top, a Google Places listing underneath AND an organic listing below that, all on page 1 of Google you are trebling your chances of a user clicking through to your website and dominating the first page of Google.
If that is not within your budget and you want to test if Google will work for your business then a simple Google Ads campaign will allow you to quickly dip your toe in without the long term investment of SEO. If your website and business concept work to convert leads then you can be full steam ahead with a longer term SEO strategy and Google Ads to bridge the gap.
So where to start with Google Ads?
Owning a business means you have to wear a lot of hats and understandably Google Ads leaves many business owners feeling overwhelmed but it is a vital activity if you want to find customers online.
I am a fully qualified and certified Google Ads Professional. I have 8 years experience, including 5 years at an award winning agency where I headed up the PPC department and won them their prestigious Google Ads Partner status in 2015. I work with B2B and B2C clients helping connect them with their customers online. I build high quality, bespoke campaigns that get results for my clients.
You can read my FAQs or Get in touch plus you can read some of my case studies.
Also, I’d love to know the weirdest thing you’ve ever asked Google?! I think my most frequent one is ‘it’s vs its’ and the weirdest I don’t think I want to confess 😉
