Dear Cab1,
Before I commence my answer, please let me clarify that Gogole Answers
Researchers are not Google employees. We are people, who are adept in
research (mostly Internet-based) and experts in the topics that we
choose to answer. In other words, if a certain product or way is
recommended here, it is not an official Google recommendation; and we
get "nothing" from recommending some Google-related products that
might be mentioned in this answer.
Having said that, here are several ways to market your product using
Google. Some of these things are relevant also for work with other
important search engines, like Yahoo!, AOL or MSN.
AdWords
=======
AdWords is a way to advertise on Google. If you search for [lawn and
garden products] you'd get few links, listed as "sponsored links", on
the right hand side of the search results page. These are businesses
who are using AdWords.
In ADWords, you choose several search terms (e.g. lawn, garden but for
example also "lawn mower" or "gardening equipment") and pay some
amount to Google for people who click on them when searching for these
terms.
Lawn and Garden Products - search on Google
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Lawn+%26+Garden+products&btnG=Google+Search>
You can see a full explanantion here:
"Google AdWords ads connect you with new customers at the precise
moment when they're looking for your products or services.
With Google AdWords you create your own ads, choose keywords to help
us match your ads to your audience and pay only when someone clicks on
them."
Google AdWords
<https://adwords.google.com/select/home>
Personally, I think that AdWords are very effective. By the way, the
ads would appear where you want them to (for example, only on the
Google.co.uk if you're a British business); and can also appear on
many other sites, including Google Answers and on related Gmail
correspondence (e.g., I ask my friend over email: "I am thinking of
buying a garden dwarf. Where can I find neat ones online?" --> the
AdWords would appear on the right hard bar of my email, and I must say
from experience that I have clicked on AdWords ads more than once).
Read more about AdWords in the following sites:
WebMasterWorld Forum on AdWords
<http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum81/>
Google AdWords Wrapper
<http://www.mikes-marketing-tools.com/adwords-wrapper.html> - helps
you optimise the search terms that would suit you.
Danny Sullivan, 2004. "Submitting Via Paid Listings: Overture & Google
AdWords", Search Engine Watch, 5 July 2005,
<http://searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/article.php/2167821>
Derek Vaughan, "How to Cheat Google AdWords Select", SitePoint,
<http://www.sitepoint.com/article/adwords-select-parts-1-4>
Froogle
=======
If you are selling a consumer product, Froogle, Google's shopping
search engine, should be another essential station. Froogle exists in
several Google search engines - not only .com, but for example also
.co.uk (the British), .de (the German).
Froogle (.com)
<http://froogle.google.com/>
You create a Merchant Account and list your products on Froogle FOR FREE.
Froogle Merchant Centre
<https://www.google.com/accounts/newaccount?hl=EN&continue=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Ffroogle%2Fmerchants%2Fsignupdone&followup=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Ffroogle%2Fmerchants%2Fsignupdone&service=fmp>
For here, it is pretty simple: once someone looks for secateurs for
their garden, they'll found your product, with its price, and the
exact URL of the product, to purchase it.
secateurs on Froogle
<http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=secateurs&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=gf>
Read more:
Chris Sherman, 2002. "Online Shopping with Google's Froogle", Search
Engine Watch, December 12 2002,
<http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2161381>
Nancy Blachman, "Froogle", Google Guide, <http://www.googleguide.com/froogle.html>
SiteAll - Froogle Feeder
<http://www.siteall.com/> - this is a commercial company, not
affiliated with Google, that offers a software that would (allegedly)
help you list your products on Froogle, instead of listing them
yourself.
Google Catalogue
================
Google Catalogues
<http://catalogs.google.com/> is another option for you, if you're
selling through a catalogue.
Instructions for vendors are here
<http://catalogs.google.com/googlecatalogs/catalog_vendors.html>
Google Directory
================
Google also has a directory, something like a huge Yellow Pages:
Google Directory
<://www.google.com/dirhp>
You can apply to list your business on the dierctory. Here, I must say
that I don't find the directory the most effective tool, and that it
updates slowly and rarely. However, listing is free, and would take a
few minutes, so it cannot hurt.
In order to get listed, you have to choose the most appropriate
category that would suit your description. For example, see:
Home and Garden category
<://www.google.com/Top/Shopping/Home_and_Garden/> and browse the
subcategories.
Google Local
============
If you'd like to market mostly to people in your region, Google Local
provides localised results. Right now, it works for US-based, UK and
Canadian businesses. For example:
Search for [garden furniture] in London:
<http://local.google.com/local?sc=1&hl=en&q=garden+furniture&near=london&btnG=Google+Search&rl=1>
Here is the registration form for business owners, again for FREE
Local Business Center
<://www.google.com/local/add/lookup?hl=en-US&gl=US>
Searching and Advertising Wisely
================================
So far, I've mentioned tools that are part of Google. However, using a
search engine effectively could also help you promote your business in
general.
(1) Learn who the main competitors are: keep a tab on Google searches
that are relevant for your customers (of course, this could and should
be done with other search-engines as well). See how you can improve
your business, or your site, by learning from them (Consider the
following questions:
- Who links to them? You can learn that by searching for backlinks.
Use the following search term:
[link:www.site's-name.com];
- Do they have regular press releases?
- Are there any complaints about them on Internet forums or disucssion groups?
- And by the way, are there any complaints - or worse: defamation -
about you on such forums?
(2) Learn about current industry-related trends, news and events and
try to react to them, using press-releases, statements to the press,
or even just by adjusting your business (say, for example, that Paris
Hilton has bought Feng-Shui fountains for her garden. If you add a
garden fountain page with the title "Just like Paris Hilton's" -
checking the model, of course - it can bring over the type of people
who are looking for a garden "just like Paris'". Don't think that I am
imagining things:
Where can I find the store where Paris bought tinkerbell
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=531865>
You can learn about current trends by following Google News:
Google News
<http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&ned=us> [please note, that on the
bottom of the page you can reach Google News in different
languages/from various countries. If you are interested only in
Canadian news, choose Canada].
Google News have something called "News Alerts", where you can get an
email every time that a certain term you're interested in is mentioned
in the news:
Google Alerts
<://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en>
(3) A third way of using the search engine to know more about your
business, and perhaps advertising it, is to search - on the Index
(Google's main page) or on Google Groups
(<http://groups.google.com/grphp?hl=en&tab=wg&q=>) for forums, where
people ask for gardening advice. Here you must be careful, if you try
to promote your business that way: some forums would not tolerate
commercial advertising (they would view it as spamming); your answer
should be always to the point and not something that is copy and
pasted to hundreds of forums/dicussion groups: there are few things
that are more embarrassing than having someone who'd searching for you
seeing your spam all over. It looks very bad: it makes you look tacky
and disrespectful.
(4) Opening a business blog. The blog, an Internet "diary", would list
- for example - news related to your subject or new things in your
business. Be careful to whom you allow to comment on your blog,
because unfortunately, blog spamming is pretty prevalant. A blog on
Blogger, a Google-owned company, might be a good idea:
Blogger
<http://www.blogger.com/start>
A bit of further reading:
Derek Gehl, 2005. "Using Google to Promote Your Business",
Entrepreneur.com, August 22, 2005,
<http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,323023,00.html>
Brad Hill, 2004. _Building Your Business with Google For Dummies_ (book)
Dave Taylor, 2005. _The Complete Idiot's Guide to Growing Your
Business with Google_ (book)
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, 2005. "The Web Marketing Checklist: 31 Ways to
Promote Your Website", Web Marketing Today, May 4, 2005,
<http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/checklist.htm>
I hope this answers your question. Please contact me if you need any
further clarification on this answer before you rate it. My search
terms were those mentioned on the title of each section. In addition,
I also searched for:
[advertising business google using],
[promoting business google using] |
,
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