Setting up Google Apps Standard (eHow)

As you may have read in my previous posts (Building Your Small Business or Personal Website and Free Internet Tools), I am a huge proponent of Google Apps Standard for small businesses and homes.  Google provides a great suite of services, for simply the price of domain name registration!

As such, I created an eHow article on How to Setup Google Apps Standard with a New Domain Name.

UPDATE: Ehow discontined their Writers Compensation Program and returned rights to the article to me.  I’ve now copied the entire content of the article below.  It walks you through the process step-by-step, and also includes some common items to configure!

How to setup Google Apps Standard Edition (free) with a new Domain Name

Google Apps Standard Edition is a FREE suite of services that facilitate collaboration for an organization or small business for up to 10 users. The Google Apps services include email, docs (online word processing, spreadsheets, and forms), calendar, contacts, and sites (websites). This article walks you step-by-step through configuring Google Apps Standard Edition with a new domain name.

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need

• Credit Card
• Computer

Instructions

1. Go to the Google Apps Standard Landing Page and click “Get Started.”
2. Click on “I want to buy a domain name,” enter your desired domain name, and click “Check Availability.  If your desired domain name is already registered, Google will suggest similar names. You can choose to either accept a similar name, or enter a new name to check availability and click “Continue”
3. Next to the “Continue to Registration”, take note if your registration will be “Powered by” GoDaddy or eNom. Click “Continue to Registration.”
   1. NOTE: I am not advocating eNom or GoDaddy, so feel free to choose whichever registrar you prefer. However, if your registration says “Powered by eNom” and you wish compatibility with other articles I’m writing, click “Learn More,” Select “GoDaddy.com” as your domain registrar, and click “Continue.”
4. On the Sign Up screen, complete all the fields asking for your personal information.
   1. NOTE: Be sure to enter your valid personal email address, as this is used as a backup in case Google needs to contact you (such as if you forget the password for your admin account in Google Apps).
   2. NOTE: Put a check mark in the box besides “Keep my registration information unlisted.” This prevents your personal information from being harvested for identity theft and email spam.
5. On the Sign Up page, review the Terms of Service for your Registrar and for Google Apps. Put checkmarks in the boxes saying you have read the terms for your registrar. Click “I accept. Proceed to Google Checkout.”
6. There are two options for payment:
   1. If you already have a Google Account, enter your Username and Password and click “Sign in and Continue”. Complete any billing information to complete your purchase.
   2. Enter all the information under “Create a Google Account to Continue” and then click “Agree and Continue.”
   3. NOTE: Remember the account you’ve created, as you can use it to sign up for other Google Services (such as Google Voice, iGoogle, Picasa, etc).
7. When taken to the Order Checkout screen, review your domain registration details. If you are satisfied, click “Place your order now – $10.00″.
   1. Google will charge your credit card (as per the billing information you entered) ten dollars ($10) for the registration of your domain name. After you have been charged, you will receive a confirmation screen. Click the link to continue to setup your Administrator account.
8. Enter the Username and Password for your administrator account and submit the information to Google Apps.
   1. NOTE: This does not necessarily have to be your own user account in the Google Apps setup. However if you want to use a “dedicated” admin account it takes away from your total of 50 users.
9. Follow the link in the confirmation page (or point your web browser to “http://www.google.com/a/exampledomain.com” where exampledomain.com is the domain you just registered) to access your Google Apps Dashboard. Log-in with your admin user and password
10. Set Configuration Items:
    1. On the Dashboard, click “Domain Settings” and then click “General”
    2. Enter your “User Support” information
    3. Choose the appropriate language
    4. Choose the correct time zone
    5. Optional: Automatically Add services and enable pre-release features if you want Google Apps to be updated with fun/helpful additions from Google Labs
    6. Put a check besides “Enable SSL” to ensure your data is encrypted during transport across the Internet.
    7. Ensure “Next Generation” control panel is used
    8. Click “Save Changes”
11. Add/Remove Desired Services:
    1. On the Dashboard, click “Add More Services” if it exists.
    2. Choose any of the services you wish to add and click “Add It Now”
12. Configure Services:
    1. Click On “Service Settings” and then select “Email”
    2. Configure email settings per your preferences and click “Save Changes”
    3. Repeat for all other services (Sites, Docs, etc)
13. Add Additional Users:
    1. Click on “Users and Groups”
    2. Under the “Users” tab, click “Create a New User”
    3. Enter their First and Last Name
    4. Optionally, click “Set Password” to generate a new password for the user.
    5. Click “Create New User” to create the User
    6. Repeat as necessary for each user.
    7. OPTIONAL: If you click the “Create Multiple Users” link, you can follow the instructions to create a number of user accounts in Bulk.
14. Add User Groups:
    1. Click on “Users and Groups”
    2. Click on “Groups”
    3. Click on “Create a new group”
    4. Complete the information as you would want. Typical uses would be as distribution lists (i.e. All Employees), or Departments (Sales, Marketing, etc).
    5. Click “Create New Group”
    6. Repeat for each group you wish to create.
15. Your Google Apps Standard Edition account is ready to use.
    1. NOTE: It may take up to 48 hours for your domain to become active. If you attempt to access one of your URL’s (such as mail.exampledomain.com) and it will not resolve, DNS may not have had a chance to be setup. You will still be able to access your services via the following links:
       1. Email: http://mail.google.com/a/exampledomain.com
       2. Docs: http://docs.google.com/a/exampledomain.com
       3. Sites: http://sites.google.com/a/exampledomain.com
       4. Calendar: http://calendar.google.com/a/exampledomain.com

Tips & Warnings

• If you outgrow the 50 user limit in Google Apps Standard Edition, you can easily upgrade to Google Apps Premier Edition via the administrative dashboard. Google Apps Premier Edition is licensed on a cost-per-user basis.
• Be sure to enter your valid personal email address when completing the information for Google Apps, as this is used as a backup in case Google needs to contact you (such as if you forget the password for your admin account in Google Apps).
• If you are concerned about privacy, be sure to check “Keep my registration information unlisted.” This prevents your personal information from being harvested for identity theft and email spam via “WhoIs” lookups.

Feel free to provide feedback and Contact Me if you still need help!

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4. Online Apps for a Paperless Small Business
5. How to Sync Google Calendar and Contact with your Blackberry and Multiple Computers