Google tools for SMBs (Part 1 of 2)

Generally, we like to stick to our guns and focus on topics related to AdWords; however, we know that many of you are owners or managers of small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) that use AdWords as just part of a suite of business solution products. In a two part series, we’d like to highlight a few non-AdWords Google tools that may help address some of your everyday SMB needs.

Today, we'll highlight Blogger, Google Apps for Your Domain, and Google Docs & Spreadsheets - free communication tools that can be used for internal or external purposes. Learn more below:

BLOGGER
Blogger is a web-based tool that helps you publish to the web instantly. Because it's quick and easy to use, it's the perfect tool for connecting an SMB with customers. For example, you may want to create a customer feedback blog, or, as we do here on the Inside AdWords blog, post updates about changes or enhancements to your business.

Here are some of the other reasons for using Blogger for your business:

• Set-up is fast and free
• Blogger's customizeable design templates do not require HTML knowledge
• Comments are a great way to generate customer feedback and multiple authors can contribute to one blog
• It's easy to include AdSense to monetize

If Blogger sounds right for you, you can quickly create an account today by going to the blogger website.

GOOGLE APPS FOR YOUR DOMAIN
Google Apps for Your Domain enables employees to communicate, collaborate and work more effectively together. You can use any combination of Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar with your own user accounts (like chris@your-company.com). Plus, create and publish web pages to your Google domain with Google Page Creator. It's free, and it's all hosted by Google -- no hardware or software required.

To learn more about Google Apps for Your Domain, please visit http://www.google.com/a.

GOOGLE DOCS & SPREADSHEETS
Google Docs & Spreadsheets is our new, free web-based word processing and spreadsheet program that can help you manage company documents and easily share them with others.

For example, you might use Docs & Spreadsheets to collaborate in real time and share information about your online ad activities, draft proposals and budgets, and keep track of your Google Analytics tags all in one place. Many of the entries on this blog wouldn't have turned out quite so well without team collaboration made possible by Docs & Spreadsheets.

With Google Docs & Spreadsheets you can:

• access your files from any computer via a web browser
• easily send them to collaborators to review and edit
• view all past document revisions and revert back to a previous version if necessary
• easily distribute content by pointing your colleagues or customers directly to a file from your website

Google Docs & Spreadsheets is free, secure, and requires no downloading. Check out the product tour for an overview of how the product works, or sign up today.

Stayed tuned for part 2 of our Google tools for SMBs series, in which we'll discuss tools to enhance your website. In the meantime, to learn more about Google business solutions, visit http://www.google.com/services/.

Update: Blogger links corrected.

Posted by Judy, Inside AdWords crew