Google Base

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Google Base is one of the lesser-understood
tools in Google’s services stable. Even experi-
enced users find them-selves somewhat con-
fused about what Google Base is.
However, understand-ing and effectively
using Google Base is one of those little
things that help in increasing your search engine rankings. According to Google,
“…based on your items’ relevance, users may find them in their
results for searches on Froogle, Google Maps and even our main
Google Web search.”
So what is Google Base? Rather than wait for Google to auto-
matically crawl your Web site and index it, Google Base enables
users to manually submit content they want included in Google’s
indexing services and that will show up in search results for
queries. In effect it can act as an ad hoc hosting service for people
without Web sites and who want to house their material in a cen-
tralised location.
As with other services, you will need a Google account to use
the service. Once you are signed in, go to the Base home page
(www. google.com/base/).
There are three ways you can post items to Google Base: one
item at a time if you have less than 10 items, via Bulk Upload, or
by using the Google Base API (Application Programming
Interface), which can be used to program automatic publishing to
Google Base. Visit the site to learn more about Bulk Upload and
using the API. Here, we will explore using Google Base using the
one-at-a-time option.
To post a single item, users can either choose an existing item
type or create a new item type. The decision about whether to fit
in your items within the existing types or creating a new type will
depend on what type of content you are uploading. In fact, creat-
ing a unique type (or category as it’s often called) in the hope of
making your content stand out does not seem to have any special
effect. The trick is to apply the correct types and accurate attrib-
utes (explained further).
Click the Next button after choosing the required type to get
the posting form. In our example, we have chosen the item type as
Vehicle, so the details required are structured around additional
descriptions that will qualify the Vehicle. These details are what
are known as attributes. The Title field should be used to enter
details about the item, much like the headline. This should be
clear and concise, as search engines will improve the relevance of
your posting when accurate descriptions are used. The initial set
of pre-defined attributes capture more details about the Vehicle
with the option to add further attributes that you think are rele-
vant. In our example, we have added one more attribute called
Model. On the right, you can also upload 20 MB worth of images
related to the post, or enter a URL where the images are available.
Further down you can also add HTML content that is relevant to
your post (partially shown), specify contact and e-mail address
details, specify payment options and delivery locations, and speci-
fy any AdWords settings (not shown).
You can click the Preview button to see how it will look when
posted, or save it as a draft. Once you are satisfied with the details
you can click the Publish button to post it to Google Base. Your
Google Base Entry will now look like the image shown on the right.
Similarly you can use the Bulk Upload and API option to auto-
mate the posting of multiple items to Google Base. All the items
that are posted can be viewed and managed in the My Items con-
sole of Google Base. To provide more information about yourself,
your store, or your company, you can use the Settings tab. You can
also use the console to add new items.
Google Base allows you a maximum of 30 days before the item
expires. During this time the item will be searchable through Web
Search, Froogle (based on item type), and even Google Maps. The
My Items console will give you feedback on the number of impres-
sions, clicks, and page views for each item, enabling you to decide
on how to focus your content in the future.