At least 85% of people looking for goods and services on the Internet find websites through search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. The idea of optimizing your pages for high search engine rankings is to attract targeted customers to your site who will be more than likely to make a purchase. The higher your page comes up in search engine results, the greater the traffic that is directed to your website. That's what search engine optimization is about.

If you're not already advertising with Google, it's time to get cracking! With more than 81.9 million unique visitors each month, Google.com is a huge source of potential traffic for your business. Google has a wide variety of services, tools, labs and advertising avenues that every online entrepreneur should know about--yet many people are unaware that Google is much more than "just" a search engine. So let's take a look at some of the key resources you can use to promote your online business.

Monitor Google and Your Site's Google Ranking With Other Tools

We shouldn't always take a company's word for it when it comes to what they offer. It's wise to get a second opinion or look to the experts to see what the buzz is about a company's products. Using Google is no different, and there are a large number of ways to discover who's saying what about Google's products. There are also a lot of people who provide tools and services that supplement Google's, and these, too, are worth knowing about.

Let's look at a few examples:

1. GoogleAdvisor.org: This is a blog that focuses on AdSense, AdWords and PageRank strategies. (PageRank is the Google tool you can use to gain an instant sense of your website's importance--you're assigned a rank from 0 to 10 based on how many other sites link to you and how "important" they are.) For information, tips, tricks and strategies related to Google, this site is a good first stop.

2. GoogleRankings.com : This site gives you a free tool for checking your keywords. You can enter your site's URL and get a report about your keyword density. You can then check how highly Google ranks your site for each of those keywords.

3. GoogleGuide.com: This site offers guides for both novice and experienced users. Experienced users can find out more about creating a website, including tips on PageRank, getting listed and advertising revenue.

4. labs.google.com: Google's technology playground. Google labs showcases a few of our favorite ideas that aren't quite ready for prime time.

Now that you have all the information you need to promote your business with Google, remember Google's philosophy: "Focus on the user, and all else will follow." Every step of your business should be about solving a problem for your customer. Google's services and tools will help you achieve that.

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