Low Hanging Fruits: SEO Tools
Introduction
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), there are so many tools, tricks and tips that can help increase your website’s visibility. However, as a small business owner, you may not have the time or resources to use all of them. Don’t worry! You don’t need to. Below I list the easiest, quickest and best way to get a boost on Google. These Google services help you manage and optimize your website all while delivering major boosts your search rankings. They are free and easy to use. Here's the top 4 Google products you should be using on day one.
Google Analytics
>Why do you need to use Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that helps you understand how customers are using your website, what content they're reading, and why they leave. With data from Google Analytics, you can identify trends in traffic patterns and find ways to increase conversions on your site.
>How do I get started?
To get started with Google Analytics, head over to www.google.com/analytics and sign up for an account (you'll need a Gmail account). Once you've created an account and installed the tracking code on your website, you'll be able to track users across multiple devices and platforms—including mobile phones or tablets!
>What tools does it offer?
There are several tools included with all levels of paid accounts: Goals & Funnels (for measuring conversion rates), Audience Insights (for assessing how well targeted ads perform compared with others), Content Experiments (to learn which headlines work best for specific pages), Real-Time Reporting (so users can see changes made live), Segmentation Filters & Dashboards (to create custom reports based on selected criteria such as location or device type)
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is an essential tool for SEO. It allows you to see how Google sees your website, adjust accordingly and implement best practices. When setting it up, use a dedicated email address for the account so that notifications go directly to you instead of being buried in a spam folder or ignored altogether. You can also set up alerts so that you’ll be notified if there are any issues with your site (or others in your industry).
An important feature is the crawl errors report which shows what Google has found broken on your site — whether that be 404s, missing titles/meta descriptions or more serious problems like HTML validation errors — so that you can get these fixed as soon as possible. Use this information wisely: if a lot of pages have missing titles/meta descriptions but no other crawl errors then chances are they won't be penalized by Google; but if they do have many crawl errors then take them seriously because they could negatively impact rankings!
Google My Business
When it comes to local SEO, Google My Business is a MAJOR go-to tool. These pages are accessible only through the Google app or browser and allow you to manage your company’s presence on search engines.
This is where you can claim your business location, add photos and hours of operation, connect with customers through reviews, posts and more — all in one central hub.
It’s important that you claim (or verify) your business in Google My Business because this step helps prevent competitors from stealing clicks from your website if they set up fake versions of yours in their accounts. If someone searches for “coffee shop” near their home address and sees two different cafes listed at the top of their results page – one that looks familiar but didn't show up when they searched for "coffee" alone – there's good chance they'll choose the wrong one because either way there are great options nearby!
Google Page Speed Insights
Google Page Speed Insights is a free tool that helps you diagnose page load speed issues, so you can make optimizations to achieve a faster web page. If a visitor spends too much time waiting for your website to load, they might abandon it and never return.
Page Speed Insights provides suggestions on how to improve your page speed by measuring the performance of your web pages and providing optimization tips for faster delivery of content. You can use it as an online tool or add it as an extension in Chrome browser or Firefox browser with Lighthouse integration
Leverage all of these free Google tools to your advantage. Gain insights and a major boost to your Google search rankings.
Google has a lot of tools for SEO available to you, and it’s important that you use them. Here are five really easy ways to get started using Google’s free SEO tools:
Use Google Analytics to understand your users and optimize your site.
Use the free version of Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) to submit sitemaps, monitor search queries, and disavow bad links.
Take advantage of Google My Business to improve your local search rankings.
Make sure that your site loads quickly by checking its performance with PageSpeed Insights.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a competitive advantage, it’s time to stop ignoring all the free tools Google is offering. Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Google Page Speed Insights can provide insights you can use to gain a big boost in search rankings. And with Google My Business pages, you’ve got an additional asset that can make your business much more visible to potential customers. Take some time to get familiar with these free tools so that you can put them to work for your business or contact me should you need help implementing or a consultation online. Also available for meeting in Montreal area for an in person consultatio.