Does anyone start small businesses anymore without a web presence? Once you have a web presence, most of your traffic will probably come from one company, Google. So why not build you business up with the tools they provide? So here are the top applications that Google provides that will help you get your business up and running.
1. Google Apps
Google Apps is one the most useful collection of tools you can find on the web for a small business. It provides Gmail with email addresses ending in your domain name, like Josh@DOMAINNAME.com. It also provides access to Google Docs, an online office suite similar to Microsoft Office, except in your browser. I am almost obsessive about keeping my life organized, so the combination of Google Calendar and Google Mobile help keep me sane and on time. Google Calendar provides you a private calendar that can be shared among all your co-workers to organize meetings and tasks. Google Mobile brings all these features to your mobile phone, and works especially well if you have an iPhone, Blackberry Palm Pre, or Android-powered phone. For your organization, you can also get Chat, a Wiki-like Sites feature, a webpage builder, and a contact organizer. If you sell any product, you should be using SalesForce.com, which conveniently integrates with Google Apps. Overall, these tools should cover many of the needs your business will have, and all of it for free. We’ll be going over some of these products more in depth in the next article.
If you don’t already have a domain name, Google can register one for you and get you started right away during the signup process. Some domain registrars and hosting providers, like Dreamhostprovide a single button to click and get started. Once you are registered and verified, visit your site by going tohttp://google.com/a/YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME, login, and start using this magical software. It is free for up to 100 users, the perfect size for most small businesses.
2. Google Alerts
Google Alerts is often an understated and overlooked tool that is invaluable to any small business. Simply visit the site and type in your competitors’ names, your product, or keywords about your product. Then choose how often you want to be notified, and wait for the emails to start rolling in. Alerts will keep you up-to-date as your competitors make announcements, roll out new products, or rumors start surfacing, so that you can stay competitive.
3. Google Maps/Local Business Center
If you have a brick-and-mortar store, you have no excuse to not be listed on Google Maps. Being listed there makes you available on multiple channels, such as Goog-411, Google Maps, Maps for Mobile, and more. It gives you complete control over your listing, from hours open to type of shop to reviews from customers. It even provides you a way to give your customers a coupon if they find your store through Maps. Not only does this make your customers more likely to come in, but it gives you a great way to track how tech-savvy your customers are finding your store.
4. Google Product Search
Do you sell a product? Is it listed on Google Product Search yet? If not, why not? Google Product Search provides a way for you to sell your product through Google’s expansive search engine. Products from Product Search can show up in normal Google search’s if they are relevant. It is free to list your products using a data feed, which Google will conveniently help you set up. Product Search can increase traffic to your own commerce site or you can use Google Checkout, and combined with Adwords, it is a perfect end-to-end marketing campaign. Adwords will be covered in the next article.
5. Google Adsense
Google Adsense is a way to monetize on your site or blog. It gives you a multitude of options of what kind of ads to show, how to show ads, and where to show them. Ads can be small text banners to giant image banners, with the larger ones making more money. You can choose to filter out competitors’ ads, the colors of the ads, and where they are placed. Google provides great tracking for impressions and clicks, along with watching how much money you are making. You can provide ads right on your page, RSS feeds, custom Google searches, and even high-end mobile phones. While Adsense won’t make you rich, it can definitely pay the bills for most hosting bills on a decent traffic site. This should allow you to provide more free content, because more free content means more traffic, and traffic translates into dollars in your pocket.
Those are five of the most useful tools Google provides. My next article will go over some of the Google Apps tools and great ways to use them to make your business better. I will also cover Google Adwords, which allows you to use Google’s massive network of ad displays to show off your product for a small fee. Google Adwords helps you manage your brand image, and Google Analytics, the final piece of software for the next post, will help you track how your brand is doing overall.
About Josh Gachnang
