Google Tools
Google is probably the greatest Web 2.0 company we have ever witnessed in the history of mankind. I am a big fan of all kinds of Google tools. This company has become so big over the last couple of years that it is near impossible to be an expert on every single product/service that Google offers. As an entrepreneur, I’ve benefited handsomely from a list of 15 essential Google tools that I am about to reveal in this post.
1. Google Search
This is a no-brainer. Google has the largest share in the search engine market in comparison to Yahoo, Bing, and AOL. I use Google everyday now to search for materials I am interested in. Google has replaced the library I used to use in school. Most importantly, Google search engine has become smarter and smarter as more and more people are using Google. As a result, you get better relevancy and more accuracy when you search.
2. Gmail
Oh, need I say more? Gmail is probably one of the greatest inventions in Google history. Nowadays, I integrate all my other email accounts with Gmail (Hate Yahoo…. It never lets me forward my Yahoo emails to Gmail with a free Yahoo account). Even better, Gmail lets me send emails from my own domain directly from the Gmail platform. For example, if an email hits my Gmail inbox, I can simply reply that email using Andrew [at] WebStudio13 [dot] com without leaving Gmail. Isn’t that amazing? Bottom line, Gmail equals efficiency!
3. YouTube
YouTube is a great marketing tool. You can design your own YouTube channel which will then appeal to the maximum amount of subscribers. If you are a video blogger and like to teach people by recording your own video tutorials, YouTube is a great place to upload all your video clips. I’ve written a previous post, which summarizes 13 greatest YouTube videos of all-time. Check it out here.
4. Google Reader
Google Reader allows you to keep up with your favorite websites as easy as checking your email. Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new content. To share with your friends, you can use Google Reader’s built-in public page to easily share interesting items with your friends and family. Google Reader is totally free and works in most modern browsers, without any software to install. Personally, I use Google Reader to subscribe to my favorite tech blogs such as TechCrunch, Problogger, TwiTip, Mashable, etc.
5. Goolge News
Google News is an automated news aggregator. Google News provides searching, and the choice of sorting the results by date and time of publishing or grouping them. Who needs print media when you can get Google News for free? Instead Wall Street Journal, Google News has become my newest power breakfast that I “eat” everyday. Be in the know of what’s happening in your industry and stay up to date with what your competitors are doing, all by using Google News.
6. Picasa
Picasa is free photo editing software from Google that makes your pictures look great. Sharing your best photos with friends and family is as easy as pressing a button! Along with Photoshop and Picnik, Picasa is another main photo processing tool that I use. I usually use it to mass resize a number of pictures all together so they are small enough for me to email people.
7. Google PageRank
If you have heard of Alexa, chances are you also know Google PageRank. PageRank is a link analysis algorithm. If you have a website or a blog, you should be concerned about your own PageRank. Here is how Google defines PageRank:
PageRank reflects our view of the importance of web pages by considering more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Pages that we believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results.
PageRank also considers the importance of each page that casts a vote, as votes from some pages are considered to have greater value, thus giving the linked page greater value. We have always taken a pragmatic approach to help improve search quality and create useful products, and our technology uses the collective intelligence of the web to determine a page’s importance.
8. Google Analytics
As an Internet marketing professional, I don’t know how I am every going to live without Google Analytics. Basically, Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you’re more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.
9. Google Adsense
Are you a website owner? Is earning money one of your goals? If the answer is yes, then Google’s Adsense program should be a big component of your monetization mix. The essence of Adsense is to display targeted Google ads on your website’s content pages and earn from valid clicks or impressions. AdSense gives you access to Google’s vast network of advertisers, so you can show ads that are suited to your audience’s interests.
10. Google Adword
What sets Google apart from the Magazine and Newspaper advertising strategies is its Adword program. In short, Google only charges you when somebody clicks on your ads. This, in turn, allows you to get the biggest bang for you buck. Here is how Adword works:
- You create ads and choose keywords, which are words or phrases related to your business.
- When people search on Google using one of your keywords, your ad may appear next to the search results. Now you’re advertising to an audience that’s already interested in you.
- People can simply click your ad to make a purchase or learn more about you. You don’t even need a webpage to get started – Google will help you create one for free. It’s that easy!
11. Google Wave
This product is still in beta now. Back in May at Google I/O, Google announced this product. Google Wave sounds very promising. As business owners, we should position ourselves ahead of the wave and get to know this efficient tool as early as possible. For a full coverage of its features, refer to my former post “7 Reasons Why Google Wave Is Going To Be Awesome.”
12. Google Alert
Are you concerned about your reputation and wonder what others say about you? Google Alerts will send you email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. Here are just some topics to help you get started:
- monitoring a developing news story
- keeping current on a competitor or industry
- getting the latest on a celebrity or event
- keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams
13. iGoogle
iGoogle lets you create a personalized homepage that contains a Google search box at the top, and your choice of any number of gadgets below. Gadgets come in lots of different forms and provide access to activities and information from all across the web, without ever having to leave your iGoogle page. It’s my one-stop shop for all the topics that pique my interests. Here is how I use iGoogle personally:
- Check Gmails
- Read headlines from Google News
- Check other news from NYTimes, BBC News, NPR, etc.
- Watch weather forecast
- Inspirational quotes gadget
- Wikipedia search box
- Hulu & YouTube video gadget.
14. Google Voice
Google voice is probably one of my most anticipated upcoming Google products. If you haven’t heard of it, here is a sneak preview.
15. Google Doc/Google Calendar
They are actually two Google tools. For the sake of simplicity, I put them together here because they both represent well as time management/scheduling tools. They allow you to achieve the maximum efficiency and make your workload flow smoothly for all business people.
So what are your favorite Google tools? Let us know if you want to share your creative Googlejuice with us here.
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