Golfballs.com first launched in 1995, offering a limited selection of used golf balls on the Internet. Twelve years later, the site has sold more than ten million golf balls to customers throughout the United States and around the world. It also carries the widest range of new, used, and custom logo golf balls on the planet.

"But we're not just about golf balls anymore," says Brandon Hartness, director of Ecommerce for Golfballs.com. "We now offer a full-line pro shop with golf clubs, caps, shoes, embroidered shirts, bags and more."

Teeing off

In 2002, the company began using Google AdWords™ to drive traffic to its site and to build its customer base. "AdWords gives us a constant flow of qualified leads," says Brandon. "In 2006, we decided to complement our ads with a second channel by selling through Google Product Search™. Just like with AdWords, our items only appear when a shopper enters a relevant search term – so we know we're targeting the right market. And the fact that it's free makes it even more attractive."

Product Search helps shoppers find and buy products from merchants across the web, displaying results on both the Product Search page and on searches on Google.com. "I especially like how these search results give us penetration on the first page of the Google search results." Brandon explains.

In June 2007, Product Search generated an average of 600 visits to Golfballs.com each day. "Since starting with Product Search, we've seen consistent increases in both traffic and sales throughout 2007," says Brandon. "We now have more than 20,000 products listed."

Hole in one

As part of his constant efforts to optimize the Golfballs.com website, Brandon has always kept an eye out for ways to make online shopping more convenient and to decrease the number of customers who abandon their carts mid-purchase. In 2006, Golfballs.com began using Google Checkout™, a checkout process that allows customers to make purchases quickly and securely with a single username and password.

"Because of the Google brand and the security that Google Checkout offers, we anticipated that Checkout would boost conversion rates for visitors who may be hesitant to purchase online," Brandon remarks. "After enabling Google Checkout, we saw a 40 percent increase in cart conversion rates due to the streamlined checkout process."

Google Checkout merchants have the option of displaying the signature Checkout badge on their AdWords ads and Product Search listings. Brandon immediately noticed an increase in clickthrough rates (CTR) and traffic, which he attributes to the badge. "I love the badge – it's great," he says. "It truly helps our ads and Product Search listings stand out. We've experimented a lot with the text in our ads. The badge is what has really made the difference."

Par for the course

	"Because of the Google brand and the security that Google Checkout offers, we anticipated that Checkout would boost conversion rates for visitors who may be hesitant to purchase online. After enabling Google Checkout, we saw a 40 percent increase in cart conversion rates due to the streamlined checkout process."

In 2007, the Golfballs.com team looks forward to projected total revenues of $9 million. "That's a lot of orders," Brandon says. "Luckily, we have free transaction processing with Checkout through the end of the year – significant savings when you look at the big picture."

Brandon hopes to continue gaining exposure through smart marketing and the Product Search listings on Google.com. "In the organic search you are competing against millions of sites that are trying very hard to get on the first page. Google Product Search gives small companies a chance to appear."