Top Five Reasons You Should use Google Apps for your Domain
Michael wrote me an email to share his list of reasons why you should be using Google Apps on your own domain… possibly even instead of something like Exchange.
- Use your own domain. - This might not necessarily be a big deal to the vast majority of users but to people like me it is. For example i could use my own domain for my e-mail address. That gives me a much higher selection of (good) e-mail addresses than if i had a standard GMail, Yahoo!, hotmail etc. account. For example is it (for the most part) not possible to have an e-mail address like name@gmail.com. usually you would have to accept having something like name33482@gmail.com. not only is it longer, it also seems less professional (that of course is generally spoken). instead I can now have an e-mail address such as example@myname.com. Another thing is that Google also allows me to use my domain as a part of the URL that I write down to visit Googles services (such as GMail, Google Docs, Google Sites, etc.). that means that when I for example want to use Google docs or GMail I just have to visit mail.mydomain.com or docs.mydomain.com.
- Use it with Google services. - Of course it is great that you can let Google take care of your e-mail system. but they do also deliver other great services such as Google docs which is a great office suite that does not require a local installation on your hard drive since all the software runs in your browser. Google also supplies with apps like Google Sites, Google calendar, etc. again and all of these apps run in your browser. that means that you do not waste up unnecessary hard drive space and you do not have to update the apps since Google takes care of that automatically.
- Collaborate (without installation). - Another thing about “Google apps for your domain” is the great collaboration features. For instance, I could make a document in Google docs that someone else could edit at another point in time. This might not sound as a big deal since you could manually send the document to those that you are collaborating with. But Google apps takes care of that automatically. And if you wish for even more features you can also chat with those who are editing your document. Right from within your document!
- It is free. - Google apps does not cost a dollar at all. Of course it requires you to purchase some kind of domain but that is usually fairly cheap. I pay around 7 dollars a year for my domain at www.cheapdomain.com. But Goolge themselves does not charge anything at all for this valuable service.
- It is secure. - Yes, Google apps delivers a lot of secure things like a great spam-filter and anti-fishing in GMail. But what i find really secure is the fact that Googles servers take care of my e-mail, etc. and then also the fact that I use my own domain for my e-mail etc.. Googles servers are so fast and are almost never down (not working). that means that I am almost sure to get my e-mail as fast as possible. And since I can use my own domain name for my e-mail address I also know that if Google cancels my account then I can just use another e-mail service without changing my e-mail address. if my e-mail address were name@gmail.com and Google banned the account I would have lost the e-mail address forever.
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16 Comments
alphaxion
October 16th, 2008
at 6:07am
Alternatively go with something like a linux box packing Zimbra at a hosting company and don’t rely upon an Ad based company with your personal and business data.
Just sayin’ ;)
Ali R Khan
October 16th, 2008
at 6:10am
How to do this?? I mean how to convert my current email to my own domain??? can i do this??
Troy Tolley
October 16th, 2008
at 7:05am
Where is it that Google Apps for Domain is free? I only see a $50/year option or School, Non-profit, and ISP options.
Where is the free version?
Thanks!
troy
Jonathan
October 16th, 2008
at 7:24am
I just switched my email over to Google Apps as well… one question though, as you alluded to in the post - what happens if Google does cancel your account? Sure you get to keep your address, but what about your email history? My email history has a LOT of business data in it, and I need to know it is backed up. In fact, that is a big part of the reason I went with Google… using IMAP I can have a copy locally and on the server, so if my laptop gets stolen or worse, I know my email is ok. But then you’re still just trusting Big G…
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bradleybradwell
October 16th, 2008
at 11:02pm
I agree with him 100%. Google Aps or in that case Google’s Mail in general is one of the best systems i’ve seen so far throughout the industry. With additional abilities such as Calendar, GTalk, and much more. I feel that Google Aps bring’s a sense of personalization(if that’s a word). It keeps your email more professional, and when employers are looking for employees they will probably think that you are a mature mature person rather than someone with an email such as coolguy0834@gmail.com. It also brings simplicity to your email, and calendar system allowing you to create more group work and discussions.
I definitely think that Google hit this one right on the nose.
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October 17th, 2008
at 5:51am
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zak
October 17th, 2008
at 9:18pm
cool,
i think im going to chnage to google apps now.
thanks chris!
Mstaal
October 18th, 2008
at 4:04am
to troy: the premier account costs $50 per year. The standard account is absolutely free. But again, you have to pay for a domain.
To Ali: you have to add something called a cname in your domain manager. Google has a tutorial that shows you how to do that.
To jonathan: well i guess they would either keep your info or delete it;)(haha).I do see your point. But i dont see why Google would ever do so. But if you want to backup your mail i would say that you should consider forwarding your e-mails to a second e-mail address.
Mstaal
October 18th, 2008
at 7:19am
Hi Ali: Google has a tutorial that shows you how to use your domain. You have to add a Cname in your domain manager. when you have Google apps you can then add up to 100 e-mail accounts with your domain.
Hi Troy: The premium account costs $50/year. the standard account is absolutely free (except for the yearly fee you have to pay for your domain).
Hi Jonathon: I dont think Google would ever cancel your account. but my point was that if they do so you can still use your e-mail address but with another service. And if you want to backup your mail i think i would forward my inbox to another e-mail address. but you could also use a mail-client and have your mails on a computer.
Mstaal
October 18th, 2008
at 7:21am
Sorry for posting the same post twice. i thought something went wrong.
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Kasper FP
April 27th, 2009
at 11:02am
Well I’ve had one unfortunate incident with Google Apps.
I had set up an Apps solution in my company Orango for a customer.
Thing is, before my client had had the chance to move his domain to our DNS’es, the validation period expired, and all of his e-mails disappeared.
So actually it’s our own fault. I love Google Apps! :-D but perhaps they could consider sending out an extra warning regarding verification a couple of days before the deletion process initiates, instead of just the one they send out 10 days before. Just saying..