Global Google Results - Are You Checking Your Sites And Ads?

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I have recently been testing out a really cool Firefox plugin which I think many of you will find extremely useful. You may or may not be aware that Google search results vary depending on where in the World you are searching from. As well as localised AdWords ads being shown alongside your searches, there is often a difference in the natural search listings depending on where you have searched from.

As a marketer, it’s important for me to be able to easily monitor where my sites are appearing in the search results, and the positioning of my AdWords ads so I can monitor the effectiveness of my SEO strategies and adjust PPC bids accordingly. I can also use this information to identify competitors in different countries and also uncover potentially untapped niches in particular countries. As well as this, I can spot localised differences in AdWords copy which will allow me to adjust my campaigns to be more effective in their particular countries.

There is now an excellent tool which makes monitoring your sites and ads really easy, and you can view the search results from a range of countries, and with a bit of customisation you can even narrow the search results down to particular cities and regions in the USA. To use the tool you will need to be using the Firefox web browser as it takes the format of a plugin. Once you have Firefox, download the The Google Global Firefox Extension to get started.

Here’s a quick tutorial on how to use the plugin:

1. Firstly click the “Install Now” button on download page to start the installation. This will bring up a notice asking you to accept the plugin. Once the plugin has installed, click Restart Firefox to complete the installation.

2. The next step is to go to Google.co.uk (or your local Google search site) to test out the plugin. For this example, I am going imagine I am marketing the box set for one of my favourite TV Shows, 24 - so I will enter “24 Season 6 box set”, and then click search:

3. The standard results page will be displayed, with AdWords ads at the top and down the right side, and the natural listings below. As I searched on Google.co.uk, and I’m located in the UK, I will first see the results for UK websites and ads.

4. In order for the magic to happen, you now need to right-click Search button and you will be presented with a contextual menu which will allow you to select your required country to search.

5. Once you select your chosen country, a new tab will open in Firefox with the new search results displayed. Having the new results in a second tab also makes it very easy to compare the two countries and spot any differences in campaigns or site positions.

I should also point out that there is an option to add an icon to your toolbar which might be more handy for you if you don’t want to right-click the search button .

Above are the Google USA results for comparison.  As you can see there are now different AdWords ads showing and the links in the main search results have also changed.

I hope you find this plugin as useful as I do, just remember whenever you are doing promotions with AdWords it’s always good to check your placement around the World, especially with digital products. I’m sure you will find lots of ways of using this to increase the profitability of your existing campaigns and researching new ones.

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 4:57 pm and is filed under James's Marketing Lessons, James's Quick Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.