Is there anyone on the planet who is unaware of Google Search?
[Crickets]
That’s what I thought.
But, how many Businesses and how many Marketers are aware of the most important Google Search tips and tricks that they must know to succeed? And if they are aware of them, how many Businesses and Marketers are regularly using these Google Search tips and tricks to grow their business?
Again . . . [Crickets].
Again . . . That’s what I thought.
Google is both the most powerful information gathering resource on the planet AND the most underutilized information gathering resource on the planet.
Fortunately, Google Search can pull up people like KeriLynn Engle with WhoIsHostingThis?. In her recent infographic, “How to Be a Google Power User”, KeriLynn delivers to you some, if not all, of the most important Google Search tips and tricks that every Business and Marketer must know.
Let’s take a look at a 3 of these Google Search tips and tricks to see how you might use them and why they could be important to your business . . .
Google Search Tip #1: Search an Exact Phrase to Save Time and Improve Accuracy
If you want to research Baby Boomers for one of your upcoming advertising campaigns, type in “Baby Boomers” in quotes. Google Search will only give you content with that exact phrase.
You can even add another search phrase to “Baby Boomers” to narrow it down even further . . .
Using Google Search for an exact phrase will save you time and improve your accuracy by narrowing down your search results to exactly what you want and eliminate an avalanche of results you don’t.
Google Search Tip #2: Search Within a Specific Website to Insure Credibility
If you are doing research for one of your blog articles, you want to make sure that the information and data you gather for it is accurate and reliable.
As shocking as this may sound, not everything you read on the internet is true.
To protect your credibility and the credibility of your blog article, you will want the truth. One way to help insure the accuracy of your information, is to go to a reliable website source.
For example, one of the most reliable sources for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) information and tips is Persist SEO here in Atlanta, GA. I happen to know PersistSEO’s founder, Jay Torrence, and have found him to be a person of integrity and a highly-skilled SEO expert that I can rely on for dependable SEO data.
So, if you wanted data for your blog article on SEO tips, you would type in SEO tips site:persistseo.com. Google Search would then show you something like the following results that are exclusively from PersistSEO’s website . . .
Your sources may be different, but the bottom line is the same . . . you need credible sources and you need to maintain your businesses credibility.
Google Search Tip #3: Search for News Related to a Local Competitor for Market Research
Businesses and Marketers need to keep an eye on the competition. You are no different.
If your local competitor is in the News, you need to know so you can see what they are up to . Maybe they recently created a new widget of some sort that will draw customers to them and away from you. You need to know that if you want to keep up.
Perhaps they just hired a new Executive who has a reputation for reinventing existing businesses. What direction is your competitor heading in and why?
There are all sorts of reasons you’d want to stay up to speed on your competition. And with Google Search, it’s easy to do.
Let’s say I want to get the latest News from Atlanta on Home Depot. You would go to to the News section of Google Search and type in home depot location:atlanta and up would pop the following . . .
Does not look like the last 24 hours has been kind to Home Depot’s IT Department.
So, if your business is a competitor to Home Depot, you might think about posting articles and/or tweets on social media that reassure your customers that your networks and servers are secure and privacy protected.
I’m just sayin’ . . .
Anyway, the bottom line here is that by doing these local searches, you are kept informed of your local competition so that you can stay competitive and grow your business.