In any business, advertising is one of the most important things you can do. If no one knows your business or product exists, they can’t come to you for what they need. Google is one of the most popular search engines on the web. They provide two main ways for you to advertise your business within their search results.
The first option is for an online business that also has a local storefront. Called Google Places for Business, this feature allows you to provide information on your business anytime someone searches for a relevant product or location. This listing is free to update through Google. Your business may show up regardless of the information you input, however the more information you add, the more likely you will attract additional customers.
There is a wealth of information available within these listings. You can add:
- Business hours
- Phone number
- Website
- Service area
- Business overview
Your Places listing also offers an opportunity for customers to review your business and share with friends. Some tie-ins with Google+ are currently available, mainly allowing people to view the listings. Other integrations are in the works, allowing business to have their own Google+ pages and develop relationships with customers via the social media site.
Another opportunity Google provides is their AdWords advertising. Google AdWords uses a pay per click payment system. So, first you go in and create the wording you’d like to appear in your ad. Then, you choose keywords relevant to your business. Finally, you choose a per click and daily budget. For the customer, it works like this. They type in a few keywords for whatever they are looking for. If these keywords, or even a few of the words, match up with those you have input, your ad may appear at the top of the results page. This ad includes whatever text you chose and links to a website you have specified for eg. If you are a real estate developer and want to showcase your bouquet of Properties in India to potential customers; you can link your online ads to your website; thus, generating more traffic and making possible sales. If the potential customer ignores the ad, you have not been charged. If they click on it and proceed to your website, you are charged a small fee for that redirect. It’s as simple as that.
One of the most important things to consider is the budget you should set for these ads. You can set a per click cost. A fairly detailed auction takes place every time someone performs a Google search. Your maximum budget tells the most you want to pay for your ad to appear for someone to click on. Often, though, you will pay less than this. You can also choose how much to spend per day. For instance, you might want to set a budget of no more than $1 per click and $10 per day. This could give you 10 clicks or many more, depending on the final cost per click you get each time.
As Google AdWords has expanded, a few more methods for purchasing ad space have evolved. You can also setup an account to pay for every conversion you get from the ad, or simply for how often it is shown. Most people tend to find that the pay per click is the best method to start.
If you’d like to get started with Google advertising, what’s stopping you? Places for Business is free: just enter information into your profile and be sure to keep it updated. For Google AdWords, simply create an account. You can keep you budget low while you learn what works best. Also, check with whoever provides your website hosting. They often have coupons available for a free $30 or $50 to get you started.
Photo by: ivanpw
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Thanks for the explanation on adwords as I did not fully understand how it works. It would seem that there would be a lot of trial and error as to how to efficiently allocated your costs between per click and per day. Thanks for your insight.
You’re welcome! I think it is worthwhile to understand how to use something as powerful as Google with our websites.
I would say that having google or any other other form of online advertising is not only important it is necessary. As the internet becomes more and more common in our society it only makes to use that money online.
Advertising is important for every business and internet is no different. You must have an online presence even if you have a brick and mortar store.
I’m just getting started with Google Adsense on my own site, so it’s really interesting to understand how it all works if your are looking to promote instead of host ads. I learn more from blog posts like this than I ever did in school, haha.
I am glad to be of service. Education is changing, maybe we will see blogging as a lesson in schools soon.
You can set a daily or monthly limit for AdWords of course and also set the times at which your ad is available. But in the end it is just using all that information that Google collects – your search enquiries and crucially what page do you go to. That information was given freely to the (free) service and Google has monetised that brilliantly.
A similar exercise is of course offered by other search engines and also by the likes of Facebook which has the important advantage of demographic, gender, age and the parsed comments on your wall…..
In the end we are feeding the monsters and they are making a fortune!
It is god to be a search engine! If it weren’t so capital intensive, you would be great to start a new one.
Cool stuff! I haven’t been much on the advertising end of things, but I see the income that the advertisements bring in. Google adsense and adwords are great tools for any internet entrepreneur. Now, you can even make money off of youtube videos, talk about crazy! I’ll have to look into more of the advertising side of things to see if there’s anything that I could use for my website.
The internet and particularly Google provides a lot of tools to promote online and brick and mortar businesses. YouTube brings out the inner director in all of us, although I have not succumbed to it yet.
The email offers and coupon codes definitely help people learn the ropes. Nothing better than experimenting with someone else’s money!
The one thing that can be a bit of a drawback is the fact that it’s like an auction in that you are essentially bidding on the keywords. Relevancy doesn’t always win out, just like in SEO, so it’s important to diversify advertising too.
I agree! I just offered some additional information.
Great information! I will have to check with Greg to see if we are signed up! =)
Thanks, a little well placed advertising may add some traffic.
Krantc, This was useful and informative and an affordable option for marketing and promotion.
Thanks, I think we need to look at all the options to promote our websites.
Using a coupon for your first use of AdWords is definitely the way to go. I’ve received a few $100 coupons by mail directly from Google.
I received a couple coupons, one from my web hosting company and one from Google.
Krantc, thanks for the post. I need to setup Google Places!
You’re welcome!
Thank you for the explanation, I am looking into it to promote my land development, but really want to learn more about keywords and optimization before getting out there.
You’re welcome, land development? Are you a real estate developer too?
I’ve gotten a few adwords advertisements in the mail recently, but haven’t tried using adwords yet. I wouldn’t consider it for my blog at this point, but would consider it for a side business I’m considering starting.
Great, let me know how it works for you.
I have received a couple of those $100 coupons in the mail, but I never used them. I wanted to, just never got around to it as I had to figure out the best keyword to use. Whether I am going to use it or not, I think I should figure out what kind of traffic I want for my site.
Advertising or marketing should have a plan. Figure out what you are trying to do or what is the outcome you are trying to achieve before you start.
I tried the free advertising with Google adwords and thought it was great. It’s a bit of a mystery how to maximise adwords but over time I’m sure you could really benefit.
I think you try different ways to draw traffic to your site.
I certainly need to learn more about this. I have some coupons but haven’t had time to study it in detail. Thanks for reminding me.
You’re welcome! Time to find out.
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