In 2004 Google exploded onto the email scene with their innovative free webmail offering, GMail. Microsoft and Yahoo quickly tried to play catchup, but GMail has been going from strength to strength ever since then.

But what's so good about GMail? Well, consider just a few of it's key features:

Powerful Anti-Spam
With a custom email address that average around 100 spam emails  a day unfiltered, after switching to Gmail I’ve had less than 5 spam emails slip through in the last 2 years. That’s impressive. And what’s so brilliant is that it just works. No fiddling around with settings! (more)

Automatic Anti-virus Scanning
This doesn't mean you'll never get a virus, but it does mean that every attachment sent to your GMail account is automatically scanned in the background for viruses (more).

Instant Google search across all your email
No fiddling around with complex search forms, or waiting 10 minutes for years worth of emails to be searched - GMail uses the Google engine for searching, which means instant results (more).

7GB+ of storage space
This was one of GMail innovations when it first launched - never worry about deleting your emails again.

Manage multiple custom email accounts from within Gmail
Maybe you've got your own email address with your own domain? No worries - GMail can automatically download emails from your other accounts and let you reply to them directly.

Access GMail on your Mobile
Whether you've got an iPhone or a 5-yr old Nokia, if your mobile has net access then you'll be able to access your emails from anywhere (more).

Access your email using IMAP
This is a killer feature: in short, IMAP means automatic synchronisation of all your emails across multiple workstations and mobile devices (more).

Hopefully that's whet your appetite somewhat. There's plenty more to GMail though: read about some of their newest features here, and keep an eye out in future posts for tips on how to maximise the benefits of GMail and other Google offerings for your small business.