Get ranked number 1 on Google

Let's use Just Creative Design as an example; if someone who lives around Newcastle (where I freelance from) searches for 'graphic designer newcastle' my business comes up first in the local search results of which you can see in the image above and that position is 100% free through the use of Google Local. In the image below you can see the free local google listing again but this time you can also see my paid advertising at the top (highlighted in yellow) which I have paid for through Google Adwords. I use Google Adwords to ensure that I get clicked first no matter what.

Anyway, keep reading to find out how to get to number 1 on google for free.

What You Need To Get Free Advertising On Google

Before you jump in and get your free advertising on Google you will need to have these things:

• An account with Google.
• A short description of your business for when a user clicks on your business name.
• The phone number(s), addresses and any other contact information you want to advertise. Remember that the phone number will show up on the results page.
• A logo and/or image(s) of your business and products.

How To Get Free Advertising On Google

1. Go to www.google.com/local and search for your business to verify that it is not already listed.
2. Go back to www.google.com/local and click "Put your business on Google Maps" found in the left side bar.
3. Follow the simple steps provided by Google. You will be asked to verify your business by phone or SMS. A good tip is to to not put your full address into Google but rather the largest town in your area. For example I live about 20 minutes outside of Newcastle in suburbia and not as many people would search for 'graphic designer cardiff' as they would 'graphic designer newcastle'. I also do not want to show my home address on Google Maps as I freelance from home so this is a good way around it.
4. Come back in a few weeks and see if your listing is up. My listing took about 3 weeks to show up and started off in position D and somehow moved to position A… I am not sure how this is controlled but I won't complain.
5. Well there we have it, you can now get free advertising on Google. You can track and edit your listing by going back to the Google Local page.

Further Tips

• You can also offer coupon codes on your Google Local listing – use this to your advantage!
• You can also add your products to Google Base, the product search engine. • If you live in Australia, submit your site for free to True Local, the leading local search engine.
• If you live outside of Australia and know of some local submission sites please leave them in the comments below.
• You can learn about Search Engine Optimisation here.
• You may also want to swap to Gmail for your email, here is 10 reasons why to swap to Gmail.

Facebook Ads

Promote your brand with Facebook Ads

People who like your Page spend an average of 2 times more as your customers than people who aren't connect to you on Facebook. Learn how to reach the right people using ads.

Set up your first ad
• Choose the Page you want to promote
• Next to 'People will see' choose 'A new ad' to reach people who aren't connected to your Page yet
• When writing your ad text, make sure to explain what you are advertising, the details of your product or service and special offers

Reach the right audience
• Create an outline of your ideal customer including details such as their location, age, gender and interests so you know who you want to target them with your ad

• Broad Category is a great way to choose your audience based on general interests and lifestyle

Campaign, pricing and scheduling
• The most important thing you can do when you're starting out on Facebook is to build an audience for your Page. Make sure to choose Page likes as your ad objective when you're setting it up.

• Think of a campaign as a folder where you can store all your similar ads so you can compare their performance.