If you are a regular person looking for info by doing a Google search, Google has always wanted to give you exactly what you are looking for.  That does not always happen – but now Google wants to help increase “word of mouth”  from your social circle in the hopes that you will trust what they have said more than what Google says in the results.

There are a few reasons the social circle results are coming at an interesting time.  First, if you have a webpage, there are new laws in the US that regulate what you put on your pages in terms of testimonials, ie word of mouth.   A disclaimer must be added to that site stating if you are making money off of the testimonials, and you must show actual results which are being claimed.    Now Google is dishing up ”results from people in your social circle” which include random personal opinions of your social circle – it seems to circumvent the need for disclaimers since none of this is placed on a webpage.  It simply exists all over the internet in a cloud of public opinion.

As an internet marketer, I can see many interesting ways to use this new tool. 

First, if you have a web business, this is going to enhance your ability to become a “trusted source” of information.  Creating a Google profile for your business becomes very useful,  which is a service my business can provide for you.  Within the profile, you place links to your web presence, like your Twitter account , any blogs you have which are linked to in your Google Reader account,  and your FriendFeed account, and even Yelp reviews.   This is another strategy that a web business should pursue, and since this is new, the results are not known but well worth pursuit.  

Will this take away the need for disclaimers on web pages?  If you are linking your reviews through Yelp,  disclaimers become part of Yelp’s problem, apparently.   That alone makes it worth the time and effort. 

Also, your Twitter followers become part of your social network – not only that, Google will include their followers into your extended social network.   The importance of your Twitter account is now becoming clearer.  What topics you tweet can now be part of someone’s social search results.

If you are:

- a website owner who wants to make money online

- and, not really sure how to do so

This is the right place!

Many website owners have shared with me that they really do not know how to bring visitors to their site, or said they hired someone else to put up their website and make monthly updates and thought that was all they needed to do.  Some of them don’t have the passwords to the admin area of their websites , and would not know what to do with it if they did have it, they confided to me.

Also, they do not understand the relationship between Google and their website at all.  One gentleman asked me if this Google relationship with keywords was a new thing, and I had to say no, it isn’t.

And they tell me they think they do not have the time to do the work it takes.  Business owners are busy running their brick and mortar business as best they can, and since they are not understanding the importance of having Google work FOR THEM, they just let their website sit where they put it.

After hearing their confessions, they suggested that I ought to train website owners about “the internet”.  I realized they were right.  Maybe website owners do not realize they have a problem.  Maybe they do not understand what really runs the internet and affects their online success.

Please know it would take a complete book to “tell all” there is to know about Google; and, once such a book was written, all the rules could be broken and rewritten by Google at a moment’s notice.  However, here are some basics and how it applies to website owners who want to work with Google to their advantage.

Let’s get started!

Google Search Basics

This is where it all begins.  Why is Google Search so important?  Here are some recent numbers:

70% of people who search online have used Google.com to enter some words to find local products and services.
31% of all business buyers turn to a Search Engine first when looking for a locally based product or service. (Kelsey Group
67% of product purchases happen OFFLINE ( Accenture research)
90% of purchases are made within 50 miles of home (Kelsey Group)
43% of all searches on Google.com included a geographical identifier (city,zip)
86% of those searches followd up with a phone call
61% of those made a purchase
Advertising spend on local search expected for 2010 : $13 billion (Forbes)

How does Google know what results to give you?
The text typed into all searches is called “keyword” text.  There is no right or wrong way to do a search, and there are millions of ways people enter keywords and keyword phrases.  Google got smart and tracked how many times people entered specific keywords and keyword phrases ( they can give totals to anyone who cares to look at the info). More about the keyword totals in a minute.

Google says they try to give search results that make sense because if they don’t,  people will switch to searches at Yahoo or Bing.  Since Google gets 80% of the total search market, we can guess that they are doing a good job for most people.

How do you know which results to select to find what you are looking for?
When anyone enters their keywords into a search, the resulting page that comes back with listings is called a search engine results page, also known as a “serp”.  What you first see is called “Google page 1” results.

How do people know what to click on in the page 1 result?  You are free to click whatever looks appealing to you. Google manipulates all the actions they want you to take at this point, however.  By studying behavior and eye tracking, they know where most people look first and click first, and they do try to put money making ads in those specific places. Yes, they really did track eye movements!

On the top right are paid ads from online companies hoping you click there.  Sometimes the very top listings on the serps are also paid ads, and Google hopes you click there first, in fact these companies paid a premium to be found right at the top of the serps.  The eye tracking results say this is the first place people look.  So, Google charges a premium for ads there.

Sometimes your keywords will prompt Google to put a little map at the top of your serp, and to the right of it, lists of businesses you could click on. This area is called the Local Business Listing ( please see our King of the Street service ).

Directly below the map area begins what is called the “organic” search results.  These are the non-paid results. Any website owner who wishes to can work to get their site found in the organic search results, and technically it is free to do just that.

What do most people do?
Tests have shown most people choose to click in the organic results because they know it is not an ad.  Because of that, these results are considered the “most trusted”.   Usually, there will be about 10 listings in the organic results on this page, and all the other pages after this have about the same amounts of listings. Most people click on the very first listing they are presented in the organic search results, page one.

Why would an online business care?
As an online business, it would be great if you had your website listed right here in the Google page 1 results, the closer to the top the better.   Think about it. When you do a search, you see that there are many thousands of pages of information that Google found with that keyword in it.  Are you going to look at result 1,345,989  or even result 87?  Most likely you are not.  I sure don’t.

Getting found on the first page of the Google search result can be exactly what your online business needs to get traffic to your website.  Our service, King of the Engines, works to announce your webpages to Google.  Our service King of the Mountain works to get multiple listings on Google page 1 pointing to YOUR website.

And just how valuable is it to be moved up on Page 1 ?

from marketingsamurai.com

Keyword Research

What do we mean by keyword research?    Earlier we mentioned that Google tracks all the keywords and phrases by totalling them up.  They also total them up monthly and yearly, and in each country, etc.  And, they plot out trends for the keyword’s popularity.  Can you see how tricky Google is now?

You, website owner, can think about keywords others may type in to find your website in a search.  Go ahead and do that for a few minutes.  You may begin to realize there are lots of ways people can type in things relating to what you offer on your site, even down to using an s at the end or not.  All of this is tracked within Google, and the results are freely shared by Google.   Below are some sample keyword numbers:

The importance of selecting the correct keyword for your website business is truly one of the keys to success.  Choose words that get too few searches, you will never get enough visitors ( traffic) to your site, and then you will not make money online.   Choose words that are too big and your listing may be found at serp listing number 128,898 perhaps.  Even if you believe others will type in certain keywords to find you, the Google list will tell you how many actually do enter that keyword.  The list can also point you to other keywords with high numbers of searches.

Also, here is a big secret for you.  Every one of the pages on your website has the opportunity to use different keywords and keyword phrases.   Each page should be optimized so you can have Google sending people to those pages, not just your home page on your main site.

It is very important to select keywords that give you a chance of ranking high in the serps and also getting visitors to your site.  How do you know what keywords to select?  Our Keyword Research service will help you select keywords based on monthly searches possible.

Optimization of Your Site

How Google selects your site

As I mentioned earlier, Google does manipulate the search results to their liking.  How can website owners manipulate Google to get found in the page 1 listings?

This is a very popular topic on the internet, as you can imagine.  As an overview, I will introduce a few basic topics as simply as I can.  Don’t worry, you can get this !

Google’s philosophy is to match up web pages to what a searcher wants to find out.  But how?

Soley on the text found on each page of your website.  Sounds so easy, right?  It is !!

When each page of your site is created,  there are options to mention specific keywords in the title of each page, and what is called the meta description of each page, and also the meta keywords portion of each page.  To “manipulate” Google, all you have to do is enter your chosen keyword into every one of those sections exactly how you want it to be found in a Google search.

This is a piece of what is called the “on page” SEO ( search engine optimization) for your website.  It is a basic action that anyone can take.  Yes,  there are many more things that can be done on each page, but this is a simple overview, so make sure you do this on your webpages if you have not already.

So,  your web design now shouts out to Google, “pick me pick me !!”   Google will look at your site’s web pages and read the text, and this is called indexing.  It now knows what you say you are all about, and they file you away for later use.

Yes, of course there is a little more to it !

To actually determine which web pages get used on the page 1 results for a keyword, Google uses a super secret formula called an algorithm.   They keep it super secret because this is their heavily veiled secret sauce,  the recipe of which many have tried to figure out and use to their benefit.  Google actually keeps many aspects of what they do a secret, like admitting how many links to your website they “see” for example.  On the other hand, they do share some aspects of what they learn from the web.

The secret algorithm ( also means a calculation, a formula, secret sauce, you get the picture) also tells Google how much of an authority your webpage is.  This means ( we’ve been told ) that others like that webpage enough to link to it, and various other factors.  Getting authority is a process that a website owner can do on their own, or with the help of SEO companies.

How do you optimize your website once you have selected your keywords?

Backlinks

Most website owners send folks to their home page and think that is enough.

Because of this action, most links (for online referrals) pointing back to your site go to the home page.  However, what about the other pages on your site?  In order to get those noticed by Google, you have to get “backlinks” pointing to those pages.

A backlink is a bit of code used on websites which creates a link to a webpage.

A good optimized site will have deeper pages which get more visits than the home page, which should be a more generic introductory page.   Good optimization is like a laser beam from your page of interesting content right to Google searchers.  In order to get Google to suggest your deeper pages to their searchers, there are ways to setup your internal webpages, and you can promote those same pages with selected and specific keywords and keyword phrases with backlinks.  Yes, this is definately starting to sound technical !

Part of the process is to purposefully name titles and subdirectories ( in wordpress, the tabs or pages you create ) of your site to match the keyword you are optimizing for on that page.   This tells Google it is good to send searchers to those other pages, because those pages are relevant to what they are searching for. This is how you build that authority to your webpage which we mentioned earlier.

Two things: 1. Do you know the precise code (html) to send a link back to your website pages?  Do you know the precise html code to promote backlinks of various keyword phrases for each page of your website?
Check out our Links to Share service.

And 2. Do you know how to promote your site to the search engines now that you understand how Google looks at websites and keywords? Our King of The Engines promotes your site with backlinks.

Advanced Google For Business Website Owners:

Google Local

A very important action business owners should pursue is getting their business listed in the Google Local.

Remember how the Google Page 1 looked, with a map and the businesses on the map showing on the right of it, like this:

Google has done some number crunching and decided that 80% of all the searches are for LOCAL bits of information, like finding an item they wish to purchase near where the searcher lives.  And, since Google wants to keep their searchers happy,  they are trying to make it easier for people to quickly see “local” businesses which can provide what they are looking for.   How does Google know who can provide anything?

Keywords.  Optimized pages on websites with specific keywords.
Google has the ability to know the location of the person’s computer or mobile phone when they type in any search into Google.com  They then will serve up results which automatically are related to the keywords and location of the searcher. Oh yeah, they can!   As a business owner, don’t you want to be found in Google searches?

How does a business who happens to specialize in a keyword get listed in this special top of the page location?  Enter the King of The Streets.
Our service will get you added to 53 internet directories and also Google, Bing and Yahoo.  Once you “claim” your business listing in Google, you get to enter your business particulars, and much more, so that your business begins to have a “local web presence”.

Google Domination

Let’s look again at a typical sample of search results:

As you can see, the important question is:  what if you could dominate the listings on Google page 1?  What if many of the page 1 listings pointed to your website?  We call this service King of The Mountain.

More Advanced Google:
Google Profile

We are proud to offer a unique service, but, we have to issue a Warning:  This is not for the faint hearted.

We will enter Google territory by creating a business Google Profile.   This is a page that anyone or any business can have.  What is not usual is how we use that Profile to drive deep backlinks to your website pages.   Interested in giving this a try? See our Google Profile service.  Google recently announced a new service which uses Profiles, Google Social Search.  This works for searches which your trusted contacts may have commented on in the past.

Since Google keeps track of everything, they will go into contacts you have added to your Google Profile, make the connection, and search for specific keywords in their posts across the web.  This includes your Twitter followers, and your Twitter followers followers.  A deep reach indeed.  Without revealing our secret sauce, we suggest using this strategy early as a starting point with a new Google technique.

No doubt that marketing is a major player for real estate agents.  Good markets, bad markets – they still sell houses.  The importance of a new marketing channel cannot be understated.  And of course, leave it to google to get this huge ball rolling in the right direction. The world is now used to thinking google when they think search.  This is one more useful way to do a search.

This google local search example will show you what this looks like.   Suddenly, shoppers have lots of fast, free ways to look for a house in a neighborhood, see what is nearby for schools, public transportation,and restaurants.  Also, google will give them directions in an easy way.  What I love the best, though, is the Street View that you can get.  This is a drive by without a drive by.  The only problem is if google has not added your neighborhood to the street view yet.  Results can be sent to clients by GPS, email, phone and by car, yes, certain models of BMW and Mercedes Benz have google maps integration.  Yes, real estate google maps.  Love it.

If you are a real estate agent/broker, by now you are wondering how to take advantage of this news.  The google local search in maps has a site just for your information, advising how to best take advantage of this local search marketing channel.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Take a look at this graphic from hitwise.com.  You will see the number one site for travel is mapquest.com.  Yes, remember mapquest?

My strategy for local business is to visit mapquest.com for your local town. Take a look around at what the “new” mapquest offers on the page.  Look at the sites they pull information from.  Doesn’t it make sense that you want your business to be listed in those same places?  Sure it does. This is a search engine you want to be found in.

The first thing asked is enter a business name and a city. See if yours comes up.  If not, look at the top of the mapquest page, for a round button that says LOCAL, click on that.  Enter your actual town and state. As you look at the categories it has opened up, the second line in the title shows where this information is being pulled from. See if any of these categories match what your business offers as a service.

If nothing else, you can create a video and add it to the TRUVEO section, making sure that you have placed info for your town and your business in the title and tags of the video. TRUVEO also picks up YouTube videos, so if you have added videos there, just make sure your town and state are listed in the name and tags and it should show up.

If you wish to add your business to AOL Local, which powers info for the CityGuide and Yellow Pages, here is what they state:

How do I add my business listing to the AOL Yellow Pages? You can submit a new AOL Yellow Pages business listing by going to our Directory Listing Information page. Any information you submit will be verified by our data provider, infoUSA. Updated data from infoUSA may take up to three months to appear on the AOL Yellow Pages site.

The website is: http://leads.infousa.com/landing/aol.html This is a free listing, so definately add it.

The chart you will see from the link above shows, over time, how google has increased usage 7.48%, while the yellowpages.com site has decreased by 5.81% this year.  Also, this month actual numbers show google usage increasing 4.23%, while they decline 2.78%. But what is really powerful to look at are the sheer volume of users.  While yellowpages.com has 16.7 million users, google.com has 145.4 million users.   Google appears to have a huge advantage, simply by popularity.

I have added the newest search on the block, bing.com, so you can watch as its popularity grows.  Bing.com is the newest effort by Microsoft, and everyone is watching the new kid on the block.  As you can see on the chart, bing.com has a LONG way to go before it even comes close.