Google Apps is a service from Google which allows users to customize domain names with several Google products. Google Apps offers a free service and a paid version. The Standard Edition, which is free of charge, rewards even the tighest of budgets. This edition also supplies the user with storage space — the same amount offered as regular Gmail accounts. While the Premier Edition (paid service) of Google Apps offers 25 GB of e-mail storage.
Many users worry about having the “@gmail.com” portion of their email address show when making the switch to Google Apps. (It’s difficult to present yourself as a serious business if you’re using what is widely known as a free Gmail account.)
However, this is no longer a problem with Google Apps. A user can leverage the power of owning a domain name, simply by interconnecting Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs, and your various websites. If you’re already familiar with the above applications, then customizing it to your domain is simply a bonus! No longer is there a need to manage a bunch of email/calendar/homepage users for for your website (domain name.)
Google Apps and webhosting
However, don’t get confused. Google Apps doesn’t assume the position of becoming your web host. But you do get the added “professionalism” of being able to have your domain integrated into your Google Apps functions. Nobody has to know that you have a free gmail account, even though you are using your “yourdomain.com” at the end of your correspondence.
