Understanding the Google Apps Ecosystem
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Get listed on Google Maps and begin collecting reviews.
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Manage all the links between various Google Apps and your domain
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Track website traffic and set up conversions
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Pay to promote your business on Google
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Monitor your business listing’s performance
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Earn money by displaying ads on your website
Jump to Each Section:
Getting Seen on Google Search (What is Google Search Console)
Google products have been a staple of the online experience for years. Even if you're not a power user, odds are you've dabbled with Google Docs or used Google Drive to store some files. The keyword here is "Google," because what you're doing is using different apps in the Google ecosystem. As your business grows, you’ll find yourself having to use more and more of the specialized Google Apps; some you may have never heard of before.
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tools available, and how they all interact with one another. While it would be impossible to cover every aspect of this ecosystem in one piece, I can give you a solid foundation to start working with the tools that will benefit your business the most.
Get Your Business Setup on Google Maps
Do you ever wonder how business get listed on Google Maps? It’s actually all up to you, the individual business owner! Simply use Google My Business to create your Business Profile for Google Maps.
Once setup, you will need to verify your location. This is done via postcard in the mail—just make sure you and your employees don’t throw it out before verifying online. With a verified Business Profile, you can begin posting images, updating your hours, and receiving reviews.
But I don’t have a physical location for people to visit me.
YOU SHOULD STILL LIST YOURSELF ON GOOGLE MAPS! For a few reasons, let me Tell Ya why:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO); not only are you are making your business visible in another realm of the internet (Google Maps) you are also identifying yourself as a business local to the area.
66% of Canadians make the effort to buy from small, local businesses over bigger corporations (source). Make your business known in the community with a simple and FREE listing!
Not everyone viewing a business on Google Maps wants to visit them in person. Again it is a huge SEO touchpoint that links your location, phone number or email, website, images, and more all in one spot.
REVIEW COLLECTION. I think the importance of this is well known but it’s often forgotten. 81% of consumers use Google Reviews to evaluate a local business (source).
What is Google Analytics?
It's one of the most popular and widely used website analytics tools out there, and for good reason. Google Analytics is a free platform that helps anyone with a website better understand their users. It's primary functionality allows you to track and measure the internet traffic going to your website; providing key demographics and lots of useful information shortly after setup.
What kind of data can I get from Google Analytics? (And what should I do with it?)
Audience Demographics like Age, Gender, Location, Interests (Use this data to create a Buyer Persona and start to consider this “ideal customer” in all your decisions.)
Users by Device and Browser (Your website should always be mobile responsive but your design efforts need to be focused on where the concentration of your users browse.)
Acquisition Channels like Organic, Paid, Social, Email, Direct, and Referral and Behaviours like Session Duration, Pages/Session, Conversions (How are people finding your website? Can you grow any of these channels or introduce a new one? Do any pages have a high bounce rate or low duration, maybe they need redesigning.)
Google constantly is refining their products and continue to do so. Make sure to check the date this article was last updated incase new processes exist. At the moment, Google is moving away from “Universal Analytics” and towards “Google Analytics 4”. The dashboards look a little different between the two, but the new direction G4 properties are taking is a more user-friendly and easy-to-read one.
For an in-depth guide to setting up your Google Analytics see HubSpot’s blog on it here.
What is Google Tag Manager?
Google Tag Manager, lovingly referred to as the “glue” in the Google Ecosystem, can feel like a useless app right until it doesn’t. As you start linking things to your website, you’ll quickly find there’s a lot to keep track of. Your website uses “tags” to measure certain information about visitor demographics and behaviour.
We can use this information to better understand how users interact with your site, track their movements, and determine what products or services they might be interested in. For example, you might use a tag to track which pages users visit most often, to see what product people remove from their cart, or to track what links they click.
The more detailed you want your tracking and reporting, the more thorough your tagging has to be. Google Tag Manager also helps aggregate your data sources in one area. The main source will be from your website, but Google Tag Manager can also link to iOS and Android mobile apps.
Instead of trying to keep track of all the tags and code you need to link your website to Google and other softwares, let Google Tag Manager be your go-between.
Setting Up Google Tag Manager
Sign up for Free at Google Tag Manager, this account is separate from your Analytics and Gmail etc. It will ask you to input your business information and to “Setup a Container”. Containers represent a single data source and tags are individual tracking commands you’ve added to the container. Name your container and select Web as where it’s used.
Follow Installation Instructions. The codes for Google Tag Manager needs to be installed high in the <head> of your page, and the other after the opening <body> tag. These are typically specific areas you can find in the backend of your website. Access these codes anytime through your settings dashboard.
Figure out what Tags you want to create. A good one to start with is your Google Analytics account. You can also add a Tag for AdWords, Facebook (Meta) Pixel, Conversion tracking and more.
Follow HubSpots in depth guide to tag creation here.
“Containers represent your single data source.
Tags are individual tracking commands, added into the container.”
What is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console allows you to monitor your website’s organic search performance, status of pages, and get insights about enhancements that can be made to their site. Basically, Search Console is your SEO best friend.
In order to deliver fast, relevant search results, Google has to “crawl” websites in advance and “index” all their pages to be referenced for searchers later on. But websites could have issues that make this difficult without the owners knowing. Search Console is your connection to understanding your site’s performance and strategies that could help improve it.
Google Search Console comparing impressions, clicks, and ranking from WEB vs IMAGE search results.
Search Console Insights Beta.
Pay to Be Seen on Google: Google Ads (Previously Google AdWords)
If you’re a new website with a low ranking, or maybe a big website who wants a better ranking, then Google Ads are for your business! Setting up paid advertising for your business is a game changer for increasing your engagement and visibility to new customers.
Setting up your Ad Account can be confusing as there are multiple tiers and “buckets” like in Google Tag Manager. Google will try and get you to start with a Smart Campaign. These are good for beginners to the Google Ecosystem as it generates majority of the content for you based off link and inputs you provide.
If you’re ready to provide detail and want to create detailed campaigns then “Turn on Expert" Mode” and begin Setting Up Your Google Ads. If you want to see the visual difference of Ad Types and Placements, check out this Google Ads for Beginners guide by HubSpot.
If you’re still unsure send me an email and I can remotely help you with any setup or running of your Ads.
