Google has penetrated our daily lives to such an extent that we tend to overlook many of its lesser known products that are released and updated from time to time. Yes, there is a whole lot more to Google tools apart from the usual Docs, Analytics etc.
This article covers three such less popular Google tools that have enough features and potential to boost your (and thereby your business’s) productivity significantly.
Google and Your Business
Everybody knows about BlogSpot, right? Well how many are actually aware that there exists a tool from Google that is exclusively meant for business blogging. The name of this tool is ‘Google and Your Business’. The tool is a one-stop destination for all kinds of case studies, collection of tips, and news about important events and sites related to business. The layout of ‘Google and Your Business’ is also very straightforward. Applying labels, adding to your RSS feeds, finding other valuable Google blogs, and archiving posts are tasks that can be accomplished in an instant thanks to the easy UI of this tool.
Google Places for Business
The name of this tool from Google is quite self-explanatory. With ‘Google Places for Business’, you can add more details regarding your business than the usual phone number, address or even the name. The kind of details we are talking about here includes information on the kind of business your entity engages in, the category into which that business falls, the number of operating hours, the areas being served by your business, the payment methods accepted by you etc. The best part here is you can add all this detailed information into the database of Google without paying a single penny to the Mountain View giant. All this extra information along with a small map will be displayed by Google in its search results. Google has also included some nice touches within the tool. For instance, Google generates a preview of your business’s listing as you go on filing up the questionnaire provided within the tool.
Google+ Pages
If you are looking for an alternative to the ever popular (and increasingly overused) Facebook, then ‘Google+ Pages’ fits the bill perfectly. Where this Google tool scores over Facebook is a couple of extra customizations that are directed more towards use by businesses. When starting up, you are required to mention the type of your business. After that the tool allows you to add your logo, cover photo and even a small description. Apart from managing all details of the page as the creator, you can also transfer the admin rights to another entity altogether. Using Google+ Pages, you can advertise about your businesses through videos, photos, news links, videos and many more. Businesses operating out of a brick-and-mortar establishment can also provide additional information to help locate them easily.
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