Want to find out what the biggest sea mammal is? Google it, they say. The notorious go-to for seekers of information, gleaned through the vast world of online information, Google is a household name. But how much do you know about their small business support systems?

Recently Google hosted "Get Your Business Online Week" (just Google it), aimed at encouraging small businesses to get up and running on the web. Hosting free online tutorials, the support staff aimed to make the case for online business, and to assist in the creation of websites, answering questions, etc.

This kind of support has become a vital part of the brand Google has become. Their multi-layered (mostly free) suite of applications can assist even the most web-timid of small business owners.

Jumpstarting the Google-train can improve web presence, build customer base and boost profits overall. So, where to begin?

Let's start with the three A's of the Google alphabet: AdSense, AdWords and Analytics.

In a nutshell:

1. AdSense: Hosting other businesses ad's on your own site creates new content and diversifies web presence. In other words, make profit from displaying other people's ads.
   
   
2. AdWords: Google's answer to online advertising, allowing you to breach a new customer base by strategically placing paid advertisements. The key here is linking your advertisement to key word searches, to become an advertised search result.
   
   
3. Analytics: Interactive tool for tracking stats about who visits your site, and what they are doing once on your site. Think of this as the playbook at a ball game - it's mostly stats, subject to interpretation and analysis.

AdSense and AdWords require some bucks, but Analytics is offered for free. Now why, you ask, would Google offer such an invaluable service at no cost?

It's because they aim to create a suite of services that work integrally with each other and are best used as a team. When you buy shampoo, you usually pick up conditioner too, right?

Another app worth mentioning is Google+, slowly but surely eating its way into the die-hard Facebook fan club and converting users worldwide.

More like a combination of LinkedIn and Facebook, this social media site more directly targets audiences, allowing small business owners to specify their scope and adapt messages accordingly. It's a welcome substitute to Facebook which shares all information equally.

Other supplemental app's worth checking out: Google Offers, Google Places for Business, Site Search, Blogger and YouTube.

But we'll save them for another time.