Google’s Essential Free Tools for Site Owners

By Seowebmount

Google doesn’t win many popularity contest these days, but it still deserves kudos for its impressive suite of useful (and free!) small business applications. They may be mired in SEO controversy, but it’s hard to deny the universal efficiency of their many essential tools.

Mainstays like Gmail are now commonplace, but there are likely many offerings that your company either isn’t using at all, or to its highest potential. Check out the list below; you’ll probably find a new favorite, can’t-live-without-it app, and/or discover features you didn’t know existed on those you’re already using. And yes, everything listed below is completely free.

Google Calendar: Everybody knows about Google Calendar, but are you using it to its full potential? You can obviously schedule meetings and events galore, but consider using it to remind you of editorial dates, payroll deliveries, and any other timely and recurring tasks. You can set up alerts that are sent to your inbox or mobile phone too. The two-way syncing makes your schedule accessible anywhere, on any device.

Google Alerts: All entrepreneurs need to stay current in their industry, and ‘Google Alerts makes it easy. Alerts can be on any keyword or topic, and relevant content published that day or week is sent straight to your inbox or RSS reader. You can set up alerts to follow industry trends, be notified every time your company is mentioned, and keep excellent tabs on your competition.

Google+ Hangouts: The perfect communication platform for virtual teams, Google Hangouts allows users to turn any chat session into a ten person video discussion. Additional tools like Cacoo provide real-time online drawing, and SlideShare lets users collaborate and share presentations. Hangouts is more versatile than Skype, and is truly one of coolest offerings from Google to date.

Google Analytics: If you run an online business, you absolutely need a Google Analytics account. The information you can ascertain about your visitors’ habits is indispensable. Analytics shares obvious stats like traffic, uniques, time spent, and bounce rates, and other equally valuable metrics like demographics, geographical data, stats on social engagement, operating systems and platforms, sources of traffic, inbound links, the impact of your top content pieces, and indicators on your best tactics for conversions.

Google Webmaster Tools: Used in tandem with Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools are essential to the health and productivity of your website. These tools will help you determine if your site is configured correctly by assessing site links, URL parameters, and domain canonization. They also look at the health of your site via blocked URLs, not-found errors, and other problems with site crawling. Webmaster Tools even offer suggestions on how to better optimize your site, via HTML improvements, site maps, and other resources.

Google Voice: If you’re looking to consolidate your phone numbers into one central location and enjoy a host of free features, Google Voice is a very valuable tool. Messages can be transcribed and sent to your inbox or cell, and for those who value privacy, a Google number is a great alternative to sharing your personal home or office line. You can even measure the effectiveness of your on-site phone number placement, as Google Voice will track the number and frequency of calls, helping you determine if changes are required.

Google Places: If you run a local business, Google Places is a must. By keeping an updated and relevant Google Places profile, you can get your business above the organic search results for your main keyword searches. To do so, claim or add your Google Places listing, complete your profile to the last detail (photos and video help tremendously), and most of all, ask your customers to leave reviews so you can increase your chances of a page one listing.

Google Gadgets: Google Gadgets allows users to extend the functionality of their Google Account, and even their website and Chrome browser. This comprehensive list of gadgets is listed in categories like tools, news, games, finance, sports, politics, and technologies. Chances are there are several gadgets in here you aren’t using now that could be immensely useful.

Google Docs: Every company has a host of documents shared by various team members; if you’re still using the archaic email method to send and share, use Google Docs to increase efficiency and security. Docs can be created and shared in real-time, tracking who makes what change, and when. Collaborate with others, or give read-only rights and keep the content locked. Docs allows you to create word files, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and various other widely used formats.

Google Drive: If you’re ready to take your documentation to the cloud, Google Drive is a fabulous option. The first 5GB are totally free, and additional space is just $2.49 a month for 25GB. Create private files, or share individual documents or entire folders with a single click.

Google Chrome: Think Google Chrome is just another browser? Not a chance. Yes, it’s a fast and user-friendly way to access the web. But Chrome also lets you do things like track simple social metrics, get Google+ notifications instantly, and access valuable SEO metrics for any site you visit.