How To Get 100% Free Advertising On Google
Published on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 – 9:55 pm | 101 brilliant comments »Did you know you can get ranked number 1 on Google for free using Google Local Business Center and Google Maps?
Google Local helps your advertisements show up in Google searches that are made in close proximity to your business which will help you get more traffic, leads and sales.
Let’s use Just Creative Design as an example; if someone who lives around Newcastle (where I freelance from) searches for ‘graphic designer newcastle’ my business comes up first in the local search results of which you can see in the image above and that position is 100% free through the use of Google Local.
In the image below you can see the free local google listing again but this time you can also see my paid advertising at the top (highlighted in yellow) which I have paid for through Google Adwords. I use Google Adwords to ensure that I get clicked first no matter what.
Anyway, keep reading to find out how to get to number 1 on google for free.
What You Need To Get Free Advertising On Google
Before you jump in and get your free advertising on Google you will need to have these things:
- An account with Google.
- A short description of your business for when a user clicks on your business name.
- The phone number(s), addresses and any other contact information you want to advertise. Remember that the phone number will show up on the results page.
- A logo and/or image(s) of your business and products.
How To Get Free Advertising On Google
- Go to www.google.com/local and search for your business to verify that it is not already listed.
- Go back to www.google.com/local and click “Put your business on Google Maps” found in the left side bar.
- Follow the simple steps provided by Google. You will be asked to verify your business by phone or SMS. A good tip is to to not put your full address into Google but rather the largest town in your area. For example I live about 20 minutes outside of Newcastle in suburbia and not as many people would search for ‘graphic designer cardiff’ as they would ‘graphic designer newcastle’. I also do not want to show my home address on Google Maps as I freelance from home so this is a good way around it.
- Come back in a few weeks and see if your listing is up. My listing took about 3 weeks to show up and started off in position D and somehow moved to position A… I am not sure how this is controlled but I won’t complain.
- Well there we have it, you can now get free advertising on Google. You can track and edit your listing by going back to the Google Local page.
Further Tips
- You can also offer coupon codes on your Google Local listing - use this to your advantage!
- You can also add your products to Google Base, the product search engine.
- If you live in Australia, submit your site for free to True Local, the leading local search engine.
- If you live outside of Australia and know of some local submission sites please leave them in the comments below.
- You can learn about Search Engine Optimisation here.
- You may also want to swap to Gmail for your email, here is 10 reasons why to swap to Gmail.
Well there you have it, you can now get free advertising on Google. Good luck!
12 Reasons To Switch To Gmail
Published on Monday, August 18, 2008 – 9:00 am | 139 brilliant comments »
Do you still use Microsoft Outlook or Eudora for your emails, or maybe something else? If you do, you probably are not having the most productive and user friendly experience that you could be having.
Up until about a month ago I had been using Outlook entirely for my emails, then I trialled Gmail (Google’s Free Email service) for 2 weeks and since getting to know Gmail, I have not turned back… there are just so many more features that make Outlook (and other similar email programs) seem just unworthy. Even Darren Rowse from Problogger has made the switch.
Although it may take a week or two to get used to gmail, over the many years to come, it will literally save you weeks of your time. I highly recommend to switch to Gmail and below I give 12 reasons why.
12 Reasons To Switch To Gmail
- Gmail spam filters block 99% of the spam that usually makes it to your inbox. Although Outlook 2007 had a good spam filter, I still usually got around 2 or 3 emails a week sneaking into my inbox… not with Gmail.
- With Gmail you get to keep your old email account, and all incoming emails will be forwarded to your new Gmail account . Also, emails that you send from your new account will have your old email account in the from area.
- You can create Word docs, PDF’s and spread sheets with Gmail via the use of GoogleDocs.
- Gmail allows you to schedule events with the Google Calendar that will notify you by email to remind you of an appointment or meeting. It can also send a reminder to the person or persons that you will be meeting with.
- Gmail has something called ‘Stars’ and which allows you to tag emails you find important. You can actually do a search for ‘Starred‘ emails and they all pop up, and as quick as a normal google search!
- Your emails are tabbed into a thread, which means you no longer have to look for old emails… it is more like a conversation window.
- You can archive old emails or whole conversations so that you can keep your Inbox clear.
- You can set up filters and labels to keep your Inbox organised and clutter free.
- It has a fast, easy search function which means you will never lose an email again. The search is as fast a normal google search which is ace.
- All your emails are online which means that you access your emails from anywhere, not just one computer.
- Update: Forgot to mention how much space there is with Gmail… you will never have to delete an email again.
- Update: The ‘Canned Responses’ aka drafts feature is great. When you need to email something over and over, this function will save you a lot of time.
Learn About Gmail
Below are some great videos to get you started with Gmail. If you have a website and an email related with your website you should be using Google Apps to set up your Gmail Account… the videos below will explain.
Using Gmail - Part 1 (5m 38s)- Learn about the basic features of gmail in this video.
Using Gmail - Part 2 (7m 50s)- Learn about how to retrieve other (ie. your old email address) email into Gmail, setup labels and filters, explain the Archive function and Gmail conversation.
Using Gmail - Part 3 (4m 39s)- Explore the more advanced settings options and some of the features coming out of Google Labs
Further Email Tips
- Want a rich text signature in your gmail account? Now you can.
- Are you getting too much email? Learn how to get a grip on email.
- Not getting enough email from clients? Learn how to get more email.
- 10 Tips to writing effective emails.
Anyway I hope you give Gmail a try… it really is worth it. What other email programs / sites do people use and why?
139 comments thus far »
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