Google, through the Google Friend Connect service, give you a way to send out a very simple newsletter to your web site visitors.  If you just have a small update to send out – and you don’t need anything too fancy – this is a great alternative, that will also get your web site visitors to interact more with your web site. 

Now, how do you get started?

If you need help getting started with Google Friend Connect, check out our setup guide.

The first step would be to go to the Google Friend Connect page, and then click on the “Send a Newsletter” link.

Setting Up Your Newsletter Gadget

On the Newsletters page, click on the tab labeled, “Newsletter gadget”.  This will allow you to setup the basics of your newsletter and a gadget that people can use to sign up for it using Google Friend Connect.

Step 1 – Options – Here you give your headline for the gadget box, such as, “Sign up for the newsletter!”  You also give some text describing it, such as, “Get the latest updates for free!” and then you decide how large your want the gadget to be, by pixels.

Step 2 – Colors – In the “Choose Colors” section, you pick the colors and font you want to use in your gadget.  Leaving one of the values empty means it will be transparent.

Step 3 – Generate Code – To create the HTML code you will copy and pate into your own web site layout, click the “Generate Code” button.

Composing a Newsletter & Reading Archives

To compose your newsletter, all you need to do is click on the tab at the top labeled, “Compose Newsletter”.  You will then be taken to a WYSIWYG editor where you can write it up. To check out past newsletters, click on the tab labeled “Newsletter history”. 

Now this might not be for professional newsletters and updates, but for smaller scale businesses or groups – this could be perfect to help get the news out about updates or changes. 

Related Tips and Tricks:

• How to Setup Google Friend Connect
• Web Hosting Newsletter Gets New RSS Feed!
• Search More with SearchMerge

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