Getting British Business Online

The scheme is based upon the existing Google Sites™ product from Google and comes with a free .co.uk domain name supplied by BT. The entire offering is packaged up under the GBBO brand which is designed to appeal to small companies and organisations that might not otherwise have their own business website, don’t have the budget for a professional web designer or the knowledge needed to commission one.

As is the case with Google Sites; the system is web based and uses a wizard style interface to progress the User through creating a Google Account (if they don’t have one already), registering a domain name, verifying their identity via a text to their mobile phone, choosing a template from a library and then creating their pages using a WYSIWYG content and page manager.

The whole process is designed to appeal to the non-techie small business owner that allows them to get online with their own business website in 20 minutes if the blurb is anything to be believed. If you’ve no idea what the GBBO system is take a look at their website and a past post on this blog that was written back in April when iNet became an approved delivery partner for the scheme.

Are GBBO Websites Pants for Your Business?

Pants!

Having worked with a number of small business since April on this scheme either on a one-to-one basis or in a workshop environment; I can confidently say that as a web build system aimed at the non-techie, it poses more barriers and frustrations for the small business owner that holds a low level of computer literacy than it presents opportunities. For this reason and for those that I list below, I would say that GBBO websites are ‘pants’ if you’re planning to use the finished product to portray a credible image for your business on the web and as such the system is best avoided.

Here’s some reasons why…

1. The available template designs are limited and are very amateurish in their design. Whilst they may be customised with unique colour schemes using specific hexadecimal colour references or by choosing a colour from a swatch in the editor for many elements (page background, font links, text etc), the knowledge needed to do this is beyond most Users in the scheme’s target market. Whilst ‘design’ may not be of concern to many, it’s generally accepted that the design of one’s website goes a long way to creating a credible opinion of one’s business to potential customers. Therefore, ‘amateur website’ equals ‘amateur business’ in many people’s eyes. Something to be aware of.
2. The ability to upload a company logo to appear in the masthead templates is available in order to give the site some degree of corporate identity, however this image file needs to be manually resized to 93 pixels high before uploading to the site otherwise it distorts the template. Given that many Users will not possess image editing software and if they do, may not be familiar with its use or as I’ve experienced aren’t able to relate to ‘pixel’ sizing; this poses many problems in itself and can be very trying for the unwary. During my sessions I recommended that Users download and use Picasa to edit their images. This in itself, complicated the site build process as I then had to offer a tutorial on it’s use. Not a big deal really, but more information for the User to absorb. Why Google didn’t simply build in an image auto-resize module for this action into the editing interface is anyone’s guess?
3. Search engine optimisation is practically zero. This product is produced by Google. ‘The’ search engine of choice for many. Yet the ability to customise the title tag and page description for each page on one’s site, a staple requirement for SEO, is not given. Whilst I appreciate that most Users in the product’s target market may not value this option, I was surprised by the number of people who brought it up in conversation as I worked with them on their GBBO websites. Just shows you how SEO aware many people are. Adding in the feature surely, should be there?
4. Your domain name is locked in for 60 days. If you do choose to use the given .co.uk domain that GBBO gives you, just be aware that it is locked into the system for 60 days before you can transfer it away to another provider. If this isn’t important to you, fine! But if it is, for example if you choose to junk your GBBO website midway through production to use another product or service, then consider getting your domain through another provider and then transferring it in to your GBBO site (see the next point below before you do though).
5. If you already own a co.uk domain that you want to use for your GBBO website, then you must first register another one via the GBBO site build wizard and then transfer your existing one in once your site is complete. In effect this means that your website will have two domains mapped to it. Nothing wrong with that and simple in principal. However for the non-techie a potential nightmare, as the domain to be transferred in is essentially ‘pointed’ to your website by the editing of its CNAME records. CNAME records on a domain are not an easy concept to understand for the non-techie and if incorrectly edited, could result in one’s website disappearing off the web altogether. Best left to someone who know’s their way around domain DNS I would say!
6. No email addresses. This is a biggie in my book! There’s nothing more amateurish if you’re in the world of business than having a @hotmail.co.uk or @googlemail.com type of email address when doing business. So you would think, given that this product is aimed at the small business community; GBBO would offer the ability to have email address that matches the domain of your website e.g. sales@mygbbowebsite.co.uk for a website that has the address www.mygbbowebsite.co.uk Am I right? Yet the ability to have POP3 or even IMAP addresses just isn’t given. The only way around this I could figure was to forget the GBBO route to a website altogether and sign the User up for the Standard Edition of Google Apps™. This way the client gets up to 50 POP3/IMAP domain based email addresses, a website built using the Google Sites product (which as I’ve stated above is essentially what GBBO websites are) and can enjoy Google Docs™ and Google Calendar™ into the bargain, both of which are cool products in their own right.

So there you have it! Initially enthusiastic about the concept of free websites for UK businesses under this GBBO scheme, I’m sorry to say that the promise of this scheme doesn’t live up to its publicity and falls below expectations of many a small business owner that I have worked with over the last few months.

On a Positive Note

Ultimately though, I suppose one has to look on the two main positives;

• It’s free, although there are other more superior free or low cost website creation tools out there.
• It’s quick. One can literally be online with a website in 20 minutes or so assuming one doesn’t worry too much about customising it or writing content.

Your Opinions

Do you have a GBBO website? Does it work for you? Perhaps you signed-up for your GBBO website and abandoned the process midway through. Are you a web designer, what do you think of GBBO websites? Either way tell us your thoughts about GBBO websites in a comment below.

Cloud Computing with Google Docs

If you fancy creating quick and simple web based forms for collecting data online, then nothing could be easier than with ‘Forms’, a great feature in Google Docs that I love and often use with great results.

As such, I want to share the idea with you in this post.

For the uninitiated, Google Docs is an example of cloud computing that allows you to create, edit, store and share, word processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations on the web aka ‘the cloud’.

You don’t need any software on your computer to create these documents, it’s all done through your web browser. Documents that have been created offline using MS Office or OpenOffice, may be easily uploaded and edited within the Google Docs framework.

To get going, you’ll need a free Google Docs account. Create one at http://docs.google.com if you don’t already have one.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Google Docs idea, then the following video will bring you up to speed.

Forms in Google Docs

Once you have your Google Docs account, creating forms is easy and may be done in a few clicks.

Follow the instructions in Google’s help article or watch the walk through video below.

Okay I Understand, So What?

What Google Docs Forms does in essence, is present you with a feature that allows you to create a web based form which can then be used to collect data from any group of individuals whom have access to the Internet.

For example an online booking form can be created for a specific event or perhaps an enquiry form can be created to collect responses from an advertising campaign. By way of another example, a form could be created to harvest people’s opinions in a survey. The uses are endless.

The data collected from the form is automatically dumped into a spreadsheet in Google Docs that was created when the form was created. This data can then be manipulated online through a web browser in Google Docs itself or it may be downloaded into MS Excel for offline working.

Forms may be shared with others by email in the form of a link which is generated when the form is created; admittedly using a very lengthy URL (so a URL shortening service such as Tiny URL maybe useful here) or it can be embedded into a web page using the supplied HTML embed code (which uses an iFrame to display the form on a web page).

Either way, Forms in Google Docs are a great little feature and offer an easy to use method for people to build their own customized web forms without knowing an ounce of HTML.

A recent example of a simple form I’ve created for myself may be seen at http://tinyurl.com/inetworkshops

This form which I’ve shared on Facebook and Twitter is being used to gauge people’s requirements when it comes to our workshops.

Give it a go for yourself.

Great news! iNet inSights has become an official delivery partner with a new UK wide campaign called “Getting British Business Online”.

With a Free Website For Your Business

GBBO which is a scheme that aims to give small UK businesses the opportunity to create a professional business website of their own – absolutely free!

If you’re in business, you’ll release that a website is one of the most effective ways to grow your business, allowing potential customers to find you, view your products, and place orders while you’re busy running your business. So we at iNet are delighted to be in position to make it easier than ever for small businesses to enjoy the benefits that a website can bring to their business.

How it Works

All you need to do is provide a few basic details about your business, such as your address and a quick description of what you do. Then an easy-to-use ‘website wizard’ does the rest. You don’t need any computer skills, it should’t take more than 20 minutes, and it won’t cost you a penny to set-up the site.

Here’s What You’ll Get

Businesses that sign up to Getting British Business Online (GBBO) will be given a free .co.uk web address that will be automatically registered in Google’s search engine, a new ‘wizard’ tool that will help them create a website in 20 minutes businesses and ways to attract new customers online.

BT will offer free telephone support to participants, PayPal will enable businesses with a GBBO powered website to turn their site into an ecommerce platform in just a few clicks. This means business can begin selling to customers and accepting payments quickly and securely via the web.

The websites are powered by Google’s technology and are hosted free on Google’s platform.

Already got a Business Website?

Getting British Business Online (GBBO) also gives you access to a range of online tools and documentation – just the thing to make a few website improvements: you can attract new customers with a free listing on Google Maps; learn how customers are using your site with Google Analytics; and make it easy for customers to buy online with PayPal.

Learn More

Come along to one of iNet’s introductory demonstrations that are being held across Yorkshire throughout April and early May 2010 to find out more and to discover the full features of what’s available to you as a business owner.

Click here to view our forthcoming seminars during which a practical demonstration of the GBBO system will be given along with some top tips on how to market your website, choose a memorable domain name and more.

To start your free website, visit www.gbbo.co.uk

View the video below for an overview of the offer.

Who are Getting British Business Online?

Getting British Business Online is a joint initiative between Google, BT, Enterprise UK and e-skills UK.

Getting British Business Online Core Partners

iNet inSights has joined the campaign so we can help local businesses in Yorkshire get the most of the Internet’s huge potential.

So why not take advantage and visit www.gbbo.co.uk or sign-up for one of our demonstration events being rolled out across the Yorkshire region during April and May.

Why be tied down with POP3 Email?

If you are a small business that finds its reliance upon the use of a single computer for the management of its POP3 email a bit of a pain then read on for a solution?

Perhaps you use Microsoft’s Outlook™ in the office for your day-to-day emailing needs but also want to access all your email features from home or from another computer whilst on the move, but can’t? Simple you may think, simply log into your account’s webmail facility when you’re not in the office.

Hang on though! This works in principal, but are you finding a few limitations to this method?

Some of the issues you may experiencing might include;

• Mails that are sent from your webmail account do not appear in your “Sent” folder in your office computer’s Outlook.
• Similarly, mails sent from your office computer’s Outlook can’t be accessed from your webmail.
• The mail folders you carefully created in Outlook to file your emails away are not replicated in your webmail.
• Email drafts saved in your Outlook can’t be accessed via webmail and vice versa.

Sound a familiar problem? If so then you’ve hit some of the limitations of POP3 email!

Get Your Head in the Clouds

Get Your Head in the Clouds with Cloud Computing

For the larger business with perhaps 5 or more Users on their network, there’s the Microsoft Exchange Server option which offers some great collaboration and email features which will overcome the above obstacles. But what about those businesses that don’t have the budget for such a solution? How can single Users and small company’s, benefit from better email management and some great document sharing tools?

Get into Google Apps™

The answer is Google Apps. Google Apps is a suite of products that are based in the “cloud” I.e. are an example of Cloud Computing. If you’re familiar with Google’s GMail then you’ll start to understand how Google Apps works as GMail, is one of the products that forms part of the suite. Over the last few weeks we’ve moved a number of our client’s over to the benefits of using Google Apps for their company email.

Here’s Why…

In my business my colleagues and I have successfully used Google Apps for the management of our email for the last 18 months. Here’s how we and those clients’ whom we’ve recently converted, are finding the service beneficial;

• We can access all our emails and email folders from any web connected computer.
• The service seamlessly and simply integrates with our Blackberry phones
• We can still use Outlook as our primary email client in the office or at home or on another computer, whilst still gaining access to all our mails and folders etc. (This is done using the IMAP mail protocol as opposed to POP3 which is built into Google Apps Mail and is supported by Outlook).
• In addition there’s some great document and calendar and collaboration tools that mean we can share word processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations with each other and between computers without the need for a complex VPN or separate online document storage service.
• The in built SPAM filtering service is highly efficient which helps keep the rubbish out.

Standard or Premier Edition?

Google Apps offers two versions for the business user, namely;

1. The Standard Edition is free but does have a few feature restrictions and shows adverts on its pages in the same manner as the free GMail service.
2. The Premier Edition which costs $50 (around £32) per User per year offers additional features including more space, advanced Outlook and Blackberry synchronization and is advert free.

Keep Your Domain

Both versions may be used with your existing email domain name (i.e. yourname@yourdomain.co.uk) which means you don’t have to change any of your current email addresses. The mail login and subsequent pages may be customised with your corporate logo and brand colours as can be seen with this example and this one.

An Overview of Gmail in Google Apps

I’m Convinced, Convert Our Mail

If you feel your organisation would benefit from Google Apps email over its current email arrangement, then get in touch.

Either version of Google Apps can be set-up for your organisation* for a one off fee of £50 + vat. We can also offer Google Apps coaching sessions on a one-to-one or group basis for your company.

Click Here to Request a Call Back About Google Apps

* Note: We will need administrative access to your domain name so that some aspects of its DNS can be changed. Your domain administrator will be able to help with this.

Converting Clicks into Profits — Free Google Guide

If you’re serious about maximising the investement you’ve made in your website and really value the contribution it makes to your business; then you should already be talking to an Internet Business Coach like me who can take away the headache of having to know the techie details and techniques involved with the promotion of your website.

However if you’re a DIYer or simply want to keep abreast of the latest tools and techniques, then Google have recently releasd a free to download how-to-guide on how to convert clicks into profits.

The guide is a step-by-step manual on how to work with five products that Google offers when it comes to increasing your website’s profitability, namely; Insights for Search, Conversion Optimiser, Google Analytics, Website Optimiser and Conversion Tracking.

So if you use any of these tools to track and manage your website, it’s worth the download and subsequent read.

Download the guide here [PDF document]

If you want to tell Google what you think of their guide, you can so by completing their short online survey here.