Google Apps for Your Domain

by Scott Allen

Google strikes again, this time with a great email solution for small businesses.

Google Apps for Your Domain allows you to have your email on yourdomain.com powered by GMail. I gave it a test run, and am very impressed. It’s very easy to switch your email hosting to Google Apps (GMail). For me, since web hosting is part of my business, I wanted to explore this great new tool to see how it could benefit my clients.

Features and Benefits of Google Apps / GMail for Even the Basic User:

Increased Security. Your email is run through Google’s servers and use their high-tech, secure data centers for free. Google employs top-level security protocols and you can be assured that your email won’t be hacked. Even if someone hacks your web server, your email will be safe, and will not be interrupted.
Spam Protection. Their spam protection is amazing. I used to get 200+ spam messages a day, and have tried numerous spam filters/programs/etc. I get almost no spam now, and ALL of my real email gets through.
Better Webmail Interface. Many web hosts provide some kind of ability to check your email from the web. Even the best ones are clunky and awkward to use. With Google Apps, when you log onto webmail on yourdomain.com to check your email, you get the extremely user-friendly GMail interface.
Massive Storage / Automatic Backup. You get 2 gigs (GB) of storage per account. (Up to 50 GB per domain! For Free!) That means you can leave messages in your account even if you download them to your local computer. All of your email will be accessible to you whenever you have an internet connection. It automatically creates a backup of all sent messages as well, and when you are logged in on the web (from any location), you can do a search and find any email you ever sent or received. You’re never without your email, even if you forget your laptop.
Email @yourdomain.com. Your email address is still your email address. Nobody really knows the difference but you!
Stability. Even if your web server goes down, your email will always work. Many business get hacked, and the loss of email ability can damage sales or even put them out of business.
Email Without Web Hosting. If your registrar has Total DNS Control or another interface to modify your MX records, you can configure your email at the domain level. That may have lost some of you, but I’ll explain it like this: You can have email (@yourdomain.com) for free without a hosting account.

Right now there are some small limitations since it’s in beta: for example, a max of 25 unique email boxes, but you can still have unlimited aliases and email lists. I believe they will be adding upgrades and improvements, as well as a premium service. Overall, it’s awesome and highly recommended.

If your interested in having me implement this on your site, or you need web hosting, feel free to contact me.

Otherwise, check it out for yourself: Google Apps for Your Domain.