Having trouble getting your business to appear in google search results? Trying to generate more local leads online? Want to track how people are finding your site? The good news is, it’s not as hard as you think!
There are three major pieces to using Google that every business owner should know about: Google My Business, Google Analytics, and Google Search Console. The first two are fairly easy to set up, but the third does require some tech skills to do. Use these free tools from Google to boost traffic to your site and track what’s working to do so (and what’s not).
***Please note, you will have to have a gmail account to follow the steps listed here.
Google My Business
The first step to getting your business to appear in search results is to create a free business listing here. Follow the on-screen instructions and put as much information about your business that you can. If your business is solely online, like mine, you do not have to list an address. Although it is helpful to list the area or region you service so that local businesses can find you. You will have to give an address to verify your listing. This means that Google will mail a postcard to the given address with a code on it. You will use this code to verify you own the business. The address you use to verify your account can be hidden from public view. Be sure to post a profile picture, a cover photo, and your company logo. Creating posts about your team members will also add credibility and make your listing more personable.
Now, there are a few things you can do for free to increase your ranking on google. First, have your clients start leaving reviews on your listing. This is VERY important! Google will list the best-reviewed options first (please note, reviewers must have a gmail account to be able to leave a review). Secondly, post regularly. I know, one more thing to post on. But if you invest in a social media scheduler it makes it much easier to post consistently across all platforms. Using Google Ads will also boost your ranking, but I highly recommend hiring out this job to someone who knows how to run ads effectively. Each platform (Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) have community guidelines that you must follow to run ads. Not to mention running ads that actually convert! A lot of money can be wasted on ads if you’re uncertain about what you’re doing. So I advise caution with this option!
Google Analytics
If you aren’t familiar with Google Analytics, it’s basically a free tracker that measures traffic to your website. It’s extremely important because it tells you what’s working and what’s not working to drive traffic to your site. (By traffic, I mean potential clients, people interested in your content, people signing up to your email list, etc.) The more people who visit your site/funnel, the more eyes on your product or service. This is the point of having a site!
First off, you have to create an account using your gmail. Go here to create an account. Now, once your account is created, Google Analytics will give you this copy+paste coding that you have to put into the code of your site to connect your site to Google Analytics. This step gives google permission to track the users on your site. This is tricky to do and risky if you are not familiar with code. I highly recommend using Monster Insights for WordPress sites. They have created a plugin for WordPress sites that does all the heavy lifting for you. You just install the plugin and follow the on-screen instructions. Easy! The nice thing about the plugin is that it can give you reports inside of WordPress for free. They do have a premium option, but it’s not necessary to purchase to use. Watch that video here. Not using WordPress? That’s fine. Click here to find a video about how to do this for the platform you’re using.
Once you’ve connected your site, it will take up to 48 hours for Google Analytics to update. Google Analytics is always 48 hours or so behind. There are many other ways to connect Google Analytics to your site, or even totally different ways to track traffic altogether! But I prefer to use Google as it’s reliable and trustworthy. Tracking traffic is a delicate art, especially because it concerns the privacy of your site and its users. If you’re going to use an alternate tracking option, be sure it comes from a trustworthy source.
Google Search Console
WARNING: This next section does require some coding. Should you choose to follow this option, proceed with caution
Google Search Console is like the lesser-known third Hemsworth brother: great at what it does but not as well known as its siblings. Google Search Console also records traffic to your site, but it has a very key difference from Google Analytics. Google Analytics is user focused, such as where the user clicked the link to your site (Social Media like Facebook or LinkedIn, emails, etc.). Google Search Console tracks search results and what keywords are being used to find your site/funnel. This is very important for SEO. Unfortunately, Google Search Console is pretty tricky to integrate to a website, and it totally depends on your web hosting provider. If you have zero tech skills or are not comfortable making changes to the security section of your hosting package, I recommend contacting the customer support of your hosting provider and asking them for directions on how to add Google Search Console. This way, you know exactly how to add it for your hosting provider and you do not have to worry about it.
First, you’ll need to claim your domain with Google Search Console. Click here to do that. Once you are there, you have to verify the domain. Input your domain into the “Domain” section search box. Google Search Console will then provide a link to verify it. Copy that link and log into your hosting provider. This next part will depend on your provider.
Next, go to the domain information or settings section. From there, you have to add the copied link as a .txt file. Once within the Domain section of your hosting provider, you’ll want to look for a tab or subsection called “DNS” or “DNS Manager”. Click it, and within that subsection, you should have the option to add a .txt file. (You may have to scroll down or look around the page for this option.) In Bluehost, for example, you scroll down, find the TXT section, click “Add Record” to the “TXT (TEXT)” section, and this action brings up three boxes, like below:
Input the “@” symbol into the “Host Record” box, paste the link from Google Search Console into the “TXT” box, and put “4 Hours” into the “TTL” box. And click save!
It will take 24-48 hours for Google Search Console to verify the site. You’ll need to go back to the search console and continue to check it until it appears verified.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Once all three of these pieces are set up, you will be positioned to drive organic traffic to your site, as well as track your efforts! It is important to note that the setup is only the beginning. It does take continual monitoring and pivoting to make the most out of these tools.
Not Interested in Setting Up & Running These Yourself?
That’s ok! It is complex and time-consuming, to say the least. The good news is that we offer these services, as well as a few secret weapons we save for clients. If you’d be interested in learning more, please feel free to contact us!
