It is no secret that I am a big fan of Google. They have a great multitude of tools to grow and extend one’s business, and most are free to use. One account management tool that I only recently became aware of is the Google Dashboard. What makes this really great is that if you are like me, and use many of the Google Tools available, it is nice to have one place to manage everything, instead of a long list of links for each application. I wanted to write today to share some initial observations of the key areas, and to highlight some of the best Google Tools available.
The Google Dashboard – in Google’s Own Words:
Designed to offer you transparency and control
Summarizes the data associated with each product you use when signed in to your account
Provides links to control your personal settings
Covers more than 20 products and services including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Web History, Alerts and YouTube
If you want to learn more, view their YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPaJPxhPq_g
Ok, so assuming you have a google account, then you can log-in into the Dashboard.
https://www.google.com/dashboard/
You sign in with your Google email address and password. Note that for each person the options in Dashboard content will be individualized per the Google features that you have created accounts for. As Google notes, “This page represents the data associated with this Google account. All data is private unless indicated with this icon as visible to others.”
Upon loggin in you will see:
Account:
This will have your name, email address, and websites you’ve authorized to access the account. This last one is important, … check out who you’ve authorized access for by clicking this text link, you may be surprised, and yes, you can easily delete their access. At the right column you have links to “Manage account”, “Edit personal information”, and “Change password”.
Me on the Web:
This includes “links from your Google profile” (or your Google Plus account if you have one), and adjacent to this area there are some great tools that surprised me a bit:
Set up search alerts for your data
How to manage your online identity
How to remove unwanted content
About Me on the Web
If you’re concerned that people may be trashing you or your business online these are really great resources. The alert tools will allow Google to send you a message when one of your alerts are triggered, which you could have set to be the posting of your name, email address, business name, etc.
Profile:
This is also linked to one’s Google account, and it provides tools to edit your profile, manage the sharing of contact info, and has information about access and privacy.
AdSense:
since I have an account, it shows my account type, the email and name associated with the acount, my address, and there is a link to managage the AdSense settings.
Alerts:
Remember how above I noted creating alerts in the “Me on the Web” section, well here is two more links to manage them, and a notice of how many alerts you have in place, and when the last alert was sent to you.
Analytics:
Here I have a link to manage my analytics account, information on the number of profiles I have in place, and an overview help link.
Blogger:
I do have a blogger account, but never use it, so I just looked to see if my information was correct.
Buzz:
I don’t use Buzz so there was no information provided for me, only a delete account link. I check the help file and there is an error page. Maybe this has been discontinued?
Calendar:
As you may know, the Google Calendar is an effective way to plan meetings, and it can be integrated into websites and mobile devices. Here it shows my name, the most recent calendar entry, my country, time zone, and two links to manage calendars, one which is for mobile devices.
Contacts:
Here it shows how many contacts you have in your address book, the email address most often contacted, and a link to manage contacts.
Docs:
Here it shows the Google Docs one has created, those shared with you, and those opened by you. And there are two links, one to manage documents, and the other for sharing documents.
Gmail:
Here is shows how many messages you have in your inbox, with links to manage chat history, manage https settings, and manage GMail settings.
Google+:
Here it shows your most recent post, and has two links, one to edit your profile, and one to edit your circles.
iGoogle:
Here it shows you the number of gadgets you have installed, the number of tabs, with a link to manage iGoogle settings.
Maps:
Here you can view the Google Places Reviews you have given, and the reviews that have been written about you. There are three links, manage maps profile, manage my maps, and manage places friends.
Picasa Web Albums:
Here you can view the gallery url of your uploaded content, the number of albums you have, and the number of public photos. The links provided allow you manage privacy settings, manage all Picasa Web Album settings, and manage Picasa Web Album visibility settings.
Reader:
I don’t use this, so have nothing was indicated.
SearchWiki:
SearchWiki allowed you to customize your Google Web Search results by promoting, removing, and adding comments to pages you visit. While the commenting and deleting features of SearchWiki are no longer available, you can still see any actions that you previously made with SearchWiki.
Social Connections and Content:
Here we have “Direct connections from Google chat and contacts” and “Social content”. There are also additional link options which include, “View social connections” and “View social content”.
Talk:
Google talk lets you text and voice chat with your contacts. Here it will show the last person you contacted.
Tasks:
This section keeps track of the tasks you have set. Per the help page, “Just click and type to add new tasks, set due dates or add notes, and (most satisfyingly) check them off as you’re done. Your task list stays up to date no matter how you access it. It’s a simple list that’s with you everywhere you go.”
Webmaster Tools:
Here you can see your Webmaster Tools accounts, and how many have been verified. There is an additional link to manage sites.
YouTube:
Here you have your profile information, with a link to profile setup if you haven’t done this yet. There are additional links to manage YouTube account, manage privacy settings, manage activity and sharing, manage history, and manage search history.
Other products:
This section simply notes that the following products are not yet available in this dashboard.
Google Code
Google Places
Google Subscribed Links
Google Wave
Website Optimizer
Just as good as your last post. Do you accept advertisers?
Hello Susan. I would consider advertising if the content advertised was web design related, of professional quality (not spammy), and otherwise of use to our clients.