Top 5 Google Tools for Business Owners

Everybody (well, almost everybody) uses Google on a day to day basis, most commonly to search for information on any given topic.  But Google has many uses that reach beyond their ability to answer just about any question that you might have.  Many of their tools are essential if you own a business that has an online presence or you are looking to create one.  Restaurant owners are no exception and if you want to do-it-yourself, you should master these tools. Here we are going to explore 5 of our favorite tools that Google makes available for use!

Google+

Out of the 5 tools I’m going to explain today, this is the most well known and popular one.  It is also a tool that is not just beneficial for restaurant users but for anyone in general, particularly for those with a website that they would like to promote using social media.  Google+ is Google’s social network and it is used/linked with your existing Gmail account. You can use it not only to connect with your friends and network, but to share and comment on content that you find around the web.  For example, you happen to read a great article and want to share it, if the article has a little “+1” button all you need to do is click and you can share it on your page.

Google Webmaster Tools

If you have a website, using Google Webmaster Tools is essential.  This tool gives you insight into your website, tells you how it is working and functioning, that way you can effectively manage it and make sure it is working properly.  It also gives you basics such as stats on what keywords your site is ranking for, information on your site traffic, and information about your sitemap, among much more. Google Webmaster can make sure that you aren’t making any mistakes on your website that handicap you in Google search.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics takes some of the statistics that are offered in their Webmaster’s tool and provides even more detailed data about them.  Creating an account and inputting a code into your website gives you access to a whole range of stats that you can use to analyze your website.  With Analytics you are able to see how people come to your website, how long they stay on your website, and if they visit more than one page on your website, plus many other stats.  This happens in real-time and provides you graphs to see your performance. All of this is valuable information that you can use to make changes to your website in order to make it more user-friendly and search engine friendly.

Google Apps for Business

This is the only tool on this list that you have to pay for, but it is well worth it.  Google Apps for Business groups a suite of Google’s apps together then lets you customize them and use them for your business.  The suite includes many of Google’s tools – most notably Gmail, Google Calender, Google Drive, and Google Groups.  For $50 per year or $5 per user per month a business can use all of these tools as they see fit, taking full advantage of Google’s storage and and mobility.  You can keep your businesses domain, like gourmetmarketing.net for your email address and access your email through Google. The benefits are too many to name.

Google’s Keyword Tool

This is an absolute invaluable resource if you looking to optimize your website for search engines or putting together a Google AdWords campaign.  For search engine optimization purposes, you can use this tool to see how many people are searching for a certain word or phrase and therefore determine which is the best phrase to go after.  As far as Google AdWords campaigns go, the true purpose of the tool is to show you all the different keyword searches that your ad will show up on, which helps you to create the most effective ads possible.
Google is the switchboard of the internet. Much of the internet goes through Google to whatever destination a user is looking for. Therefore, you should embrace Google and its tools to position your business for internet marketing success.