In the near future, data will power everything we do, from business decisions to the items we buy online. One mistake many smaller businesses make is in assuming that access to these insights is the exclusive right of big businesses with giant budgets. But thanks to a wide range of cloud tools, businesses of all sizes can affordably access information that will improve their efforts.

Search Engine Tools

Search engine algorithms are constantly undergoing adjustments as providers work to make results as useful as possible. Savvy marketers work to keep up with those changes, constantly tweaking techniques to increase success rates.

While studying industry publications can help small businesses stay abreast of these changes, it’s also important to note what is working on an individual basis. With analytics in place, a business can monitor traffic to its site, determining which content is appearing most prominently in various searches.

Google Reporting

If you aren’t using Google’s Webmaster Tools, you’re missing a great opportunity. Through Google’s analytics, you can gain insight into your search engine rankings, how many impressions each listing is getting, and click-through rates. You can also use these reports to learn which keywords are bringing customers to your site, which will help you as you create future content for your site.

As Google always tells website owners, high-quality content is paramount to ranking well. Businesses can use analytics to extract information on those keywords that can be worked into content to improve rankings. Google even offers a Webmaster Academy, which shows businesses how to create sites that place well, as well as providing a how-to guide to using webmaster tools.

As the marketplace grows more competitive, businesses of all sizes will be challenged to have full awareness of how customers are interacting with their storefronts and websites. Thanks to cloud-based tools, this information is easily accessible.