Google Webmaster Tools

Google offers a range of tools that can help with search engine optimization. We've learned about many of these tools, but here is a quick review of all of the tools Google offers that you can use to improve your website's search engine optimization, as well as tools you can use to monetize your site.

Google AdSense

Google AdSense is Google's advertising revenue sharing program. If you participate in this program, you can place Google text ads on your website and you will receive a share of the revenue from those ads when visitors click on them. You need to earn at least $100 before you can receive a payment.

Google AdWords

Google AdWords is Google's principal pay- per-click advertising program. Google's AdWords program allows you to place and purchase pay-per-click ads on the Google search engine results pages as well as on the Google Content Network, which consists of other people's websites. If you place ads through the Google Content Network through AdWords, they could appear on any of the websites that participate in the AdSense program.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts is a monitoring and notification system that alerts you whenever Google discovers new content that includes a keywords search term that you specify. These alerts can be sent to your e-mail address, or you can subscribe to them by RSS in a feed reader such as Google Reader. One way to use this service is to find ideas to write about when you need new content for your website. Alternatively, you can use Google alerts to learn about new mentions of your company in links or on other websites. You can also use Google Alerts to find blogs to comment on and link back to your site. To do this, set up an alert to notify you when there is a new blog post about a subject that is related to your website. Then read the article and comment on it.

The following screenshot shows a Google Alert delivered by e-mail that was triggered by new content that included the search term "tastyplacement". This specific alert advises of a newly-discovered Twitter post that mentions our company.

Google Merchant Center

Google Merchant Center is a Google service where you can upload and manage product listing that you want to appear in Google Product Search, AdWords, and other Google properties. Google Merchant Center is incomplete and imperfect, but it may be poised for greater relevance in the future. This service has gone through several invocations and name changes in just a few short years. Previously, it bore the name Google Base.

If you sell tangible goods, Google Merchant Center is a mandatory additional channel by which you can distribute your goods. Your products will appear in Google Product Search, and in some cases, alongside organic results in general Google searches. Google Merchant Center is more effective if you employ automatic data feeds to submit your products. The data feed system is well documented and can easily accommodate tens of thousands of products.

The following screenshot shows a view from inside the Google Merchant Center. The analytics are helpful; you can see impressions and clicks for each of your products:

Google Checkout

If you are selling products on the Web, you'll need a payment system to process your orders. If your business doesn't have a merchant account, Google Checkout can be a good alternative. Google Checkout is closely equivalent to PayPal. It offers a similar range of functionality and features at a similar price.

While Google Checkout has become more popular, it is still dwarfed by PayPal. Before adopting Google Checkout, you might consider that PayPal enjoys greater familiarity among the public and deeper adoption by more users.