Google has been the forefront of online searches since its presence in the early 20th century. Google’s core business is still searches and the release of tools available to aid your website is evident of that. If you already have a website and intend to rank your website on Google, using the following tools is paramount for your success. These tools range from analytics to track how your visitor enter your site and where they exit to webmaster tools to ensure Google has all your pages on its search engines.

Google Analytics

Simply put, Google analytics is one of the core tools you need for your business no matter if you just started out or have been in the business a long time. As the name states, it handles the analytics of your website and whatever pages you have on it. Once you put the coding into your website, you can churn out information such as the amount of visitors and real time visitors that has been to your site. See their demographics if they are logged into Google or even see what countries they are coming from. You can also determine which page did they enter your website, how long they are spending on your website and which page do they exit.

Goals

One of the most useful tool i use in Google analytics is the goals, Goals are basically specific terms you can set to determine if your website has completed the objectives. For example, a goal is completed if someone completes an inquiry form or if someone checks out an item in your e-commerce store.  With this tool, you can determine how many percent of your visitors are actually converting into customers and you can tailor your website to convert more. This can mean by improving a certain page with more visitors to convert them.

Google Webmaster

As smart as Google is, Google cannot find your website at its creation. It needs to receive hints or information from other websites that your website exists, once it receives “news” it will send it’s robots to crawl through your website to gather more information about your website. Google Webmaster is a tool which you can use to speed up that process. Webmaster is also an invaluable tool for diagnostics for viruses or malware lurking in your site.

Tracking your websites on search terms your website is ranking for will also help you get a good idea of your website standings in the SERPS and your SEO efforts. With Google’s new markup on information displayed via structured data, you can also measure how your website is doing.

Speed Test

Website speed is one of the biggest factors the search engine giant uses to determine for the search page rankings. Google PageSpeed Insights is a great tool you can use to test your website for both mobile and desktop versions. They will also tell you tips to speed up your website to better serve your visitors. As a general rule, your website should load within 3 seconds. Go above that timing and based on Google’s historical data you lose about 20% of potential visitors per second.

Guides

If you still can’t wrap around the different terms on how to improve your site speed, there are also guides available to help you out. Better yet, you can also look for our services to help improve your site speed or even SEO/SEM Services.

Google Business

If you don’t even have a website but still want to list your business on Google, you can do so via Google Business. Google Business is a neat tool which allows you to put your company on the local maps. Adding a business has never been any easier. Once you have applied for this service, Google sends you a confirmation mail and once you’ve verified your business, your listing is automatically placed on Google maps. You can then receive reviews from your customers or place important information on Google maps such as contact details, opening hour or even picture associated to your business.

In addition, Google businesses tends to show up first on many search results which can be a great way to convert new visitors.