With the consistently expanding online market currently serving over 1.9 billion consumers, Google offers a set of tools to help businesses expand and market globally.
Launched recently, the Global Market Finder is a free tool to help businesses identify foreign markets in which there appears to be “high demand for their products and services.” Familiar to those who have used the Keyword tools in AdWords, The Global Market Finder helps you to evaluate new markets by showing you the following information for each market:
- Volume of local searches
- Estimated price for keywords
- Competition for each keyword
The numbers give you an idea of how competitive the market is, how demand is in one country compared to another, and the cost to start advertising in the new market(s).
Here’s how it works:
First you enter your country and principle language (US and English); then enter the keywords related to your products and services. From the drop-down menu, select the global market that interests you (Africa, Americas, Asia, Emerging Markets, Europe, European Union, G20, Middle East, or Oceania). The Geographic Distribution results identify the Location (country), a bar graph that indicates strength of Opportunity, total number of Local Monthly Searches (12 month average), a Suggested Bid Amount for your associated keywords, and a bar graph indicating level of Competition.
Next you can opt to make use of the Google Translator Toolkit that allows you to upload a document (your intended ad landing page, for example) or specify a url and select the language from which and to which you want it translated. Next you can create a “TM”, or translation memory file where the translated document will be stored.
All of the above tools are accessible from the newly launched website Google Ads for Global Advertisers, which “pulls together resources for businesses to find the right market for their products and services, translate their websites and ad text, find new customers with relevant online ads, and understand options for international payment, shipping and customer service.”