If you are a guy and never ask for directions, you can disregard this post.
If you are a guy like me and know that the shortest way there involves asking for directions, you’ll appreciate this post. Caveat: I don’t like asking, but I really dislike driving around in circles.
Google’s many products and services have altered the marketing landscape. You’ve heard that before, I’m sure. If you use their products, you can get in-depth answers and direction in the Google Help Center.
More important, if you do NOT use their products or services, this isn’t to suggest that you should, but that you can see how the marketing world is evolving. Much of marketing revolves around search (and that’s changing in radical ways, too) and if you haven’t thought of it that way, take a look.
Here's the Google Help Center, just a portion of what's there.
Let me just highlight the top two you can see here: Custom Search Engine and Google Alerts.
What is a Custom Search Engine?
From the Google Help site: "A Custom Search Engine is a tailored search experience, built using Google's core search technology, that prioritizes or restricts search results based on websites and pages you specify." In plain English: It is a custom search box for your website that searches only the websites you specify and thus brings up a smaller set of results for your readers.
Google Alerts
Many people are using Google Alerts to notify them by email (or better in my view: by RSS ). You enter a keyword, your name, whatever, and you get your information alert sent to you. But... Have you thought about leveraging the advanced search option?
I started doing this after I learned in the Help Center. To learn how to refine your overall Google web searches, visit the general Advanced Search page. To narrow your news searches, try our Advanced News Search page. Once you're happy with the results you get from an advanced search, copy and paste your advanced search query into the search box on the Google Alerts home page.
So if you are not a Google fan and you don’t use their search engine or any of their free apps, that’s fine. There is a lot of great market intelligence in their help center. Ideas to help you understand online marketing. There’s no secrets, but there are insights to be harvested.
TJ McCue recycles and repurposes digital content for Q4 Sales customers and is the founder of Sales Rescue Team, which is a free site review initiative to help small business owners with their online sales and marketing.
