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Google has become a household word, and it is a powerful force on the internet but it is about much more than just searching. There are many tools for normal users, and there are also many functions and features for web developers. Some of these may be used to add functionality directly to your site while others may help in the promotion of your site.

Site Search

A search facility can be added to your web site which only searches within your site. So if a visitor wants to find something quickly within your site they can just type in a word, hit “return” and find the right page in an instant. It also means the content of your pages whill have been indexed for the normal searching from the Google search site.

Google Groups

If a web site could benefit from a discussion forum, it is often easier and more effective to use a Google group. They are free, can be set up quickly and can have open registration or you can make them invite only. This is a good way to build “community” around your site, product and or service.

Google Video

Google hosts video clips. If you have video to show on your site, it may make sense to host it on Google. Not only could this save you bandwidth, but people searching in Google videos may find your video and then go to your web site as a result.

Blogger.com

Blogger is one of the main blogging web services and it is owned and run by Google. Not only does it enable you to have a blog on your web site but the entries of the blog will be quickly indexed by Goolge’s search engine, and can be found by anyone using Google searches.

Google Maps

Your web site can have a map to show your location or any other map based information. The use of the maps are free provided use of the site is free to the public.

AdSense

This service places context sensitive ads on your web site (e.g if the text of your web page mentiones “propeller beanies” then ads for propeller beanies will probably appear in the AdSense area on the page). If people click on the ads you get a commission. You need to have a very busy web site before this becomes more than pocket money. However, it is possible to use AdSense “income” against AdWords charges which is the service where you advertise on the Google search page based (AdWords are the “sponsored” results you see after doing a search).

Translate

You can translate any text between a number of different languages using Google’s translation service. Visitors to your site could also use it to translate the pages on your site to their own language. This can be made easier for them by providing links on the page which will automatically redisplay the page with all of the text translated but everything else shown exactly as before.

We can discuss the possibilities of the above and other Google services to find ones which could enhance your site.

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