Measure Your Search Marketing Efforts with a Weekly Googleprint

It's easy. Just type your subject in quotes in Google's search box. This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to test your search marketing efforts. Each week you can track which of your search marketing efforts is paying off and which isn't doing so well. The results may surprise you.

For instance, you might be surprised to see your Craigslist ad showing up surprisingly high in your Googleprint. Placing an ad on Craigslist not only gets your name out but also gets you site picked up by the search engines.

You can also find out what doesn't work; for instance, all those URLs you stuck on Twitter are fun but probably don't count for much. Using search Googleprints is also a good way to see what your competitors are doing. If they are buying Google search words that will turn up too.

And don't forget to click past the first page and examine other pages. Every now and then look at the first five pages to get a sense of what is happening on the lesser hits, especially if your search is a big generic one.

So how can one tell just what is going on? Much has been said about figuring out the Google algorithms or the way Google comes up with its search results. Forget it.

Even an engineer would have trouble figuring out exactly what Google is up to and Google certainly doesn't want to let the cat out of the bag. Those algorithms are Google's greatest intellectual property.

The truth is the Google algorithms change on a regular basis and if you are monitoring your Googleprint you can see how search results change when algorithms change. Sometimes these changes can be somewhat dramatic significantly changing your Google footprint. But you won't know unless you are tracking your Googleprint.

It's obviously important to remember that yours is not to reason why. Your chore is to see the application and results of the Google algorithms. If you begin to see the results, you can begin to understand the bigger picture and how that affects your search marketing efforts.

Don't expect any great revelations, but if you keep a steady finger on the pulse of the algorithms they will begin to make sense.

The basics don't change very much and they are most important; change your homepage with fresh, original content daily, focus on keywords and keyword strings and publish, link and backlink as much as possible. Avoid scams and spam.

Regular Googleprints also help you check for spammers and scammers that affect your Googleprint; in fact, you may have recourse.

For instance, a short while back when checking my Googleprint I was dismayed to see that the number one hit was a scam. This scam had lifted my name and business name and had posted it on a website that was selling porn.

I flagged and reported the site, as well as probably hundreds others also did. Within 24 hours it was gone; barred by the Google God. Or Goddess. Or their Googlenesses. The lesson here is take action and don't panic. Panic gets you nowhere when dealing in the search world.

If you are just starting out with your search marketing efforts, make a weekly copy of your Googleprint and save it for reference. Over a period of time you can review your Googleprint snapshots and see which of your search marketing efforts is more effective.

You can also check your Yahooprint and MSNprint as well. But clearly Google, as the biggest and most important search engine, is critical to search marketing and your search marketing campaigns.

Think search.