Free Google tools for business

Google provides a number of free tools for business and even Google pages which can be used to share documents or ideas as an intranet.

Google Adsense

Let’s start with Google Adsense – the tool familiar to Hubbers and publishers across the Internet. It doesn’t cost anything to sign up to make money from Adsense, but more importantly Google provides in-depth training on Adsense.

Do not spend money on learning Google Adsense until visiting the Adsense support and resource center and reading the quality information contained here on Hubpages.

My recommendation for beginners is starting with the Adsense demo center

There are videos and the Adsense blog to scan for useful information. There are also case studies.

Two years, I bought an ebook from a well-known Internet guru (I’m tempted to state the name but I won’t) who sold a book on Adsense for $ 49.00. All of the information contained was fairly basic and it was all contained on the Adsense Resource Center.

Google Analytics

This free tool provides a wealth of data on who’s visiting Websites, what pages visitors are viewing, the length of time they stay on a site – similar to other analytics tools site as Statcounter.com.

Google Analytics can be integrated with an Adsense account for easier reporting.

One way I used analytics with a client was seeing the keywords used to reach the corporate Website and how many times each keyword was used. In three months, through writing articles and re-writing small portions of the Website, I increased the number of keywords from a one-time high of 92 to more than 144 for three months in a row.

Google Calendar

An online marketing company uses Google calendar extensively to track the schedules for out-of-office meetings as well as client meetings. They use color coding to identify the purpose of the meetings. The tool can sync with mobile phones.

Here’s an overview of Google calendar.  Google Local Business Center is a place to list a business locally.

Put listings, hours of operation and create coupons. It also allows for updating events.

Google Apps

Google apps can be free for limited functionality for collaboration online including spreadsheets. There’s also a premier edition that’s $ 50 per year per user.

One Google app companies are using is video. The application allows internal videos to be uploaded instead of sending videos via email. The introductory video offers a number of user testimonials from companies that have staff in different parts of the country.

Los Angeles using Google apps – not for free

On August 11, 2009, Randi Levin recommended to city council why Los Angeles should use Google apps. She said the reason was saving money.

"The ability to get whatever information the city needs, whenever they need it, on whatever device they need it on will fundamentally change the way the city works and enhance productivity greatly," she said. "In a fiscal crisis it is difficult to find technology solutions that will save money without requiring a significant capital outlay to achieve those objectives."

In October 2009, LA City Council approved Google's email for 30,000 city employees. By December, the city council had approved a wider use of Google apps