7 benefits of using G Suite for your business

Update October 2016: "Google Apps for Work" has been renamed to "G Suite". This post has been updated to reflect this change.

Using your business name in your email (i.e. [yourname]@[yourdomainname].com.au) helps create a professional presentation for your business, and shows that you take your business seriously.

And yet there are still so many businesses who use a free "@gmail" account for their business email.

Some business owners may be afraid of change - "oh, no, we need to learn a new email system" or "we really like Gmail’s web interface".

And these excuses got us thinking... did you know that there is a way that you can use your own domain name and continue to use that familiar Gmail interface?

G Suite (formerly Google Apps for Work) enables you to sign up for a range of Google services all using your domain name - you are able to use Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, Docs, YouTube and even the new Google+ social network, giving your business a presence across a suite of online applications.

So why use G Suite up for your business?

1. Continue to use the Gmail web interface

There’s no new mail interface to learn - if you already are familiar with Gmail’s web interface, you will feel right at home. Your email can even be accessed via a neat URL, such as http://webmail.[your domain name].com.au

2. Brand your business’s email

You get to use your business’s brand with your email with your very own @[your domain name] set of email addresses, as well as branding the interface with your logo.

3. Ample cloud-based storage

You each have 30GB of online storage for your email, documents and photos. This gets shared among the different tools within the suite, but can be great for keeping your email and shared documents in the cloud.

4. Collaborate

G Suite’s services give you the ability to collaborate and share with others in your businesses using other Google products such as Google Drive and Google Docs.

5. Keep your devices in sync

You can use IMAP to keep your inbox in sync across all of your devices including your computer, mobile devices, tablets and the web. Applications such as Apple Mail and Microsoft Outlook support Google’s IMAP settings. By using IMAP you’re able to centrally store your mail in the cloud, and when you leave your desktop computer and move to your mobile device, your Inbox has the same contents and constantly remains in sync.

6. Create a more reliable setup

The storage and server demands of having your email hosted and managed with your web host are removed. If you web host goes offline, or you decide to change web hosts, it is possible to have your email continue to work with no downtime.

7. Room for growth

G Suite can grow as your business grows - you can flexibly add and remove users as your business changes. G Suite is a cost-effective alternative to a managed Microsoft Exchange setup.

The initial G Suite set up can appear daunting for newcomers, so it is best to speak to your friendly web developers to help you get started. As an authorised Google reseller, we've set up many G Suite accounts in the past so can help you get started as quickly as possible, and help you get up and running.

When it is all set up, the power and flexibility that G Suite provides will help centralise your business’s communications, and also enable you to carry out your work with your business-branded email and Google presence. There’s now no excuse to brand your business email online, and stick with those familiar Google services you already know.