Is Google a good choice for your business email?

“Teamwork makes the dream work,†they say. 

But after the recent abrupt shift to full online business communications, many unprepared remote teams were flooded with emails and messages they couldn’t handle. 

Making the dream work is impossible when you’re drowning in responsibilities and heaps of messages from customers and colleagues alike. Fortunately, Google Workspace for business could be the life raft you were looking for. 

In this article, we’re going to cover everything you need to know about Google Workspace and why it could be a great idea to streamline your online business communications. 

What is Google Workspace?

It’s the holy grail of digital collaboration. Formerly known as G-suite, Google Workspace is a collection of powerful productivity and collaboration tools that helps your business communicate seamlessly and create secure documents of all sorts.If you’re curious about how Google Workspace works, it’s really simple. By subscribing to either one of the Google business email pricing plans: Basic, Business, or Enterprise, you get access to premium features catered to your business alongside all the applications like Gmail for business, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and many more.Here are the available Google Workspace plans:

How do I create a Google Workspace Account?

1. Visit Google Workspace’s official website and click “Get Started.â€
   
   
2. Fill out sign-up details like business name, # of employees, country, contact info.
3. Connect (or Buy) your domain: you’ll be prompted at sign-up after filling out the preliminary info from step 2. Try your domain ideas in the search box to see availability and pricing.
   
   
4. Enter business information: location-related details
5. Create your username—this is your Google business email username (e.g., [email protected])
6. Input payment information to complete checkout for your Gmail business plan. For all plans (listed below), you can pay month-to-month to adapt to changes like seasonal employees, downsizing, or expansion:

What’s the difference between Google’s free apps and Google Workspace for business?

Subscribing to Google Workspace means that you’ll gain access to many professional, business-curated services and perks that are not available with Google’s free consumer applications. We’re talking: 

• Custom business email @yourcompany  (instead of @gmail.com for personal use) for display of professionalism, increased trust, and better organization with group mailing lists (e.g., email aliases like help@yourcompany/sales@yourcompany)

• 2x-unlimited amount of cloud storage across Gmail and Google Drive to hold all your files and documents on the cloud, making them secure, accessible, and collaborative 24/7.

• 24/7 phone and email support for any troubleshooting need to get back to business. 

• • 99.9% guaranteed uptime on business email, so you never disappoint or abandon customers. 
  • Administrative controls for all user accounts allow seamless monitoring and communication between all members of your remote team.

• Interoperability with Microsoft Outlook
• Additional security options like two-step authentication and SSO

Why should I use Google Workspace?

Debating whether the Google Workspace premium features are worth it? Here are 10 reasons Google Workspace for your business is worth the upgrade:

• Be seen as legitimate and trustworthy with a branded email domain

Gmail for business is one of the biggest perks that come with a Google Workspace subscription. Your organization gets all the functionality, comfort, and familiarity of Gmail but with its own domain name. If you’ve been rolling with a personal, free Google account (@gmail.com) for your small to medium-sized business, just note that 33% of consumers doubt your trustworthiness, and 24% will hesitate to share personal information with you. On the other hand, a Google Workspace email will: 

• Significantly boost your credibility. It’s a sign that you’re legit. 
• Offer free advertising every time someone sees your email.
• Allow for expansion and team organization, as each team member can get a dedicated user email (up to 30 alias accounts) to operate their day-to-day tasks.

• Enjoy unlimited and secure file storage.

Users have their own Google business email account in Drive, where they can store notes, drafts, and other private files. A team can also have its own Team Drive, where users can share and collaborate on documents or resources without manually granting access and permissions to each other. And in the event of a team member’s departure from the company, Team Drive managers can easily revoke their access to company data. Whereas while using personal Google accounts, everybody must remember to revoke access to former colleagues if they host and share files.In Google Workspace’s business and enterprise plans, Team Drives and individual drives have unlimited cloud storage unless you select the Basic version, where there’s a 30GB storage limit—still twice as much as the free version.

Enterprise-grade security with Endpoint Management

Speaking of unlimited filing, you should ensure that all that information is kept safe and secure. With Google Workspace Endpoint Management, you can distribute apps and documents quickly and efficiently across numerous smart devices. Control security settings, check usage and limit access to any endpoint device you see fit. When a device is lost or stolen, for example, you can remotely erase confidential data by wiping the device or the account.With the help of the admin console, you can also block untrusted apps, enforce security keys, or require two-step verification. To help you protect your business, Google Workspace also offers enhanced email scanning – which checks for security threats – as well as security analytics and best practices recommendations.

• Manage all team logistics from the Admin Console

You can manage your data, users, and apps from a single interface in the Google Workspace Admin Console. Users can be easily added and removed, custom user experiences can be configured, devices can be managed, roles can be created, permissions assigned, and security settings can be customized.

• Integrate with third-party CRM apps

The Google Workspace app integrates seamlessly with productivity and CRM apps like Drag, perfect for small to medium businesses with email-driven workflows. After installing the chrome extension and signing in once, you can streamline communication and planning with collaborative features on top of Gmail, like shared kanban boards, task/email assignments, internal team chat, etc. Third-party integrations like Drag also allow teams to collaboratively manage shared inboxes such as support@, sales@, or billing@ internally, eliminating the back and forth between Gmail and other CRM, Help Desk, or To-Do apps. Your remote team can gain a productivity boost, and you don’t have to worry about data inconsistencies from human error. It’s a win-win for everyone, and it gives you an edge over competitors when it comes to mastering internal logistics for exceptional customer service and project management. 

• Preserve corporate information

With Vault, you can keep important data on suspended accounts for as long as needed. Deleted documents and suspended accounts can still be preserved by retention rules and hold on to certain Google Workspace apps. By doing so, you can prevent data loss when employees leave your company and keep your legal team on top of potential issues. 

Conclusion

All in all, Google Workspace for business is an excellent option for remote teams looking to pull their act together. Complemented with third-party integrated apps like Drag, time and project management has never been easier with seamless communication.