SmallBizResource Blog -- Software

Google Sites -- New Web Publishing Tool Rises From Ashes of JotSpot

Posted by Gayle Kesten Thursday, Feb 28, 2008, 12:58 PM ET

So you wanna set up your own Web site?

On this second-to-last-day-in-February-because-it's-Leap-Year, Google is relaunching its JotSpot hosted wiki service with what The Wall Street Journal says is the latest way the search giant is hop, skip and jumping past the need for an IT department.

(SOHO readers, repeat after me: What's an IT department?)

"The company is intentionally bypassing tech departments, which might object to Google hosting their business’s sensitive information. Instead, the company is appealing directly to the average worker, who doesn’t want to have to wait months for IT to have the time and money for their project."

Google Sites, now a member of the search giant's SMB-favored Apps package, lets customers easily build and publish Web sites without any background in HTML or Web design. (Did I just hear a collective cheer?) Google says this will make it easier for workers to collaborate on projects, and is positioning the tool as a simpler, more scalable and less expensive alternative to Microsoft's SharePoint and IBM's Lotus Notes.

"This is pretty cool. I would definitely use this for projects if it can easily enable us to track document versions and team documents," said a small-business owner/friend when I mentioned/showed off knowing the latest out of Google.

Other features include:

The ability to embed rich content from other Google products

Google Sites is available in four editions; most basic sites are free or carry a small monthly per-user fee, depending on whether you use a fuller-featured versions of Google Apps.

If you already have a site, what tool(s) did you use to set it up?

Internet | Marketing | Software | Startups

This is a public forum. CMP Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. CMP Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of CMP Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in CMP Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.