Making Your Google Accounts Work For You
by
Marie Lewis |
Nov 8, 2023, 13:05 PM
Last month, our own EVP of Customer Success Michelle McNally led a session for Unity Fidelity Bank’s Morning Master Class community networking series. Her presentation, “Making Your Google Accounts Work For You,” explained how several of Google's core products and services can work together to boost web presence, improve sales, and delight customers. Michelle received such terrific feedback about her presentation that we decided to publish the contents of it here!
If you’re using one or two Google services and you’ve never explored how to integrate them or you just know you could be getting more out of your Google footprint, this one’s for you. This blog post covers Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Business Profile, and Google Ads.
But First, Why Google?
Simply, Google is big. With 91.9% of the search engine market share as of January 2022, Google is visited 89.3 billion times per month (Similarweb, 2022) and processes over 8.5 billion searches per day (Internet Live Stats, 2022).
But it’s really only worthwhile if your search results are on page one: just .63% of people click on the second page of Google search results (Backlinko 2022).
Google Tag Manager
You’ve just launched your first website, hooray! (Not there yet? Talk to us.) The key to maximizing these products is using the same account to access each platform. Sounds easy, right? But as your business grows, employees come and go, and Google evolves, it can become more difficult. So make sure you set up a designated Google account for businesses with administrator access privileges.
Then, you can set up your Google Tag Manager, which helps manage actions on your website with minimal coding. Once the tag manager is installed (which does require technical knowledge), other team members can install tags easily without having to know how to code.
How to get the most out of it:
- Create a naming convention that’s easy to follow
- Learn the differences between an account and a container
What it connects with:
- Google Search Console
- Google Analytics
- Google Ads
User levels:
- Account levels: Administrator, User
- Container permissions: Publish, Approve, Edit, Read, No Access
Google Analytics
After you’ve set up your tag manager, connecting Google Analytics will measure data points such as how users reach your site and what they do once they get there.
How to get the most out of it:
- Create a view that shows you the metrics most important to you
- Create events that measure meaningful actions
- Create conversions from those events for the most valuable actions of all
What it connects with:
- Google Search Console
- Google Ads
User levels:
- Administrator
- Editor
- Marketer
- Analyst
- Viewer
Google Search Console
After you’ve set up your tag manager and analytics, you can look to Google Search Console for insight into how your site appears to the world on Google. It will help you identify how people are finding your website and possibly show you opportunities to capitalize on keywords.
How to get the most out of it:
- Verify your website (so Google knows you should be privy to the information); the most common way to do this is through Google Tag Manager
- Submit an XML sitemap
- Sign up for emails that will tell you how your site is performing in search each month
What it connects with:
- Google Analytics
- Google Ads
User levels:
- Verified Owner
- Full Access
- Restricted Access
Google Business Profile
Now that your website and your Google assets are set up, you can publish your Google Business Profile, which is like a modern-day Yellow Pages and so much more. It quickly shows users your location and your hours and connects them directly to your website. Unlike a printed directory, you can update your profile at any time. Once set up and verified, you can create a unique tracking link to follow all of the traffic that reaches your website from your GBP profile.
How to get the most out of it:
- Claim your profile
- Fill out all of the fields
- Add photos
- Add updates regularly
What it connects with:
- Google Ads
User levels:
- Primary Owner
- Owner
- Manager
Google Ads
Google Ads is the main way that Google makes its fortune (over $224 billion in 2022). Businesses pay for the high visibility of these ads on the first page of Google, where over 99% of Google users make a decision. They are easy to set up, but it takes skill to make them a useful marketing and sales tool.
Once your designated Google Account is set up as the administrator, establish the person in charge of accounting as the billing contact. If you use a Google Ads agency to manage your Google Ads, you can provide access through MCC.
Once this account is set up, go back to your Google Business Profile and add any phone numbers used exclusively for ads. You’ll connect Ads in Google Analytics and Search Console. Import any conversions from Google Analytics, and use GTM for other valuable conversions.
How to get the most out of it:
- Decide what valuable action you want users to make when clicking on your ad
- Connect GBP so your ads have the potential to show in the local map pack
- Use all of the ad extensions, including call, price, and site links
What it connects with:
- Google Tag Manager
- Google Search Console
- Google Analytics
- Google Business Profile
Access levels:
- Administrator
- Standard
- Read-Only
- Billing
- Email Only
That’s it!
If you’re ready to take the next step in exploring how to maximize your Google presence, BoxCrush is an Indianapolis marketing agency with experienced web developers, designers, and Google-certified staff in-house. Call (317) 816-9353 or use the form below to send us a message.