Google offer a number tools and services that can help in getting your website recognized in Googles search results. These tools all come free of charge except for Googles Pay-per-click program which they call adwords.

This year, if you are planning to start marketing your business “on line” it is a good idea to start out using the tools that Google have provided. I have made a list of six services that I believe are vital as a first step in promoting a website on the internet.

1. Register a Google account – None of the services that Google offer can be accessed with out creating a Google account. This can be as simple as using one of Googles services, which range from Gmail, iGoogle or any other service that they offer.

2. Register for Google webmaster tools – This tool requires you telling Google that you own a particular website. Google verify this claim by asking you to place a file on your site or some code into your home page. Once this is complete Google provide a lot of hidden information about how they read your website, they also are able to give suggestions of how you can improve your Google rankings.

3. Register for Googles Local search – Local search is when Google have verified that your business is relevant for a specific geographical region. They do this by asking website owners to claim their website and confirm their address. Google will do this confirmation by telephone or letter. Once this is done a business will show up in a search results map if someone searches in your geographical area and uses your keywords. It is a relatively easy way to quickly get to the top of local search result queries.

4. Register for Google analytics – This allows a website owner to track the traffic to a website with a high end sophisticated web tracking tool. The interface is easy to use and the amount of information available is quite enormous.

5. Start a Google adwords campaign – This is Pay-per-click (PPC) and will allow you to have your website appear at the top of search listings for specific targeted keywords. You only pay for the visitor that clicks on your advert and it is probably one of the most cost effective and fastest ways of getting instant traffic.

6. Use the Google RSS reader – This wont drive traffic to your site but is a fantastic way to organize all the information that comes flooding into your email inbox. What happens is you subscribe to a website whose information is interesting using your Google reader, you then unsubscribe from the mail list. This saves your mail box and allows you easy access to view information in a well organized way, with out spam.