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Online infrastructure for your small business doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. By leveraging many of the free and inexpensive products offered by Google, you can create a website, a domain-branded e-mail system, and a document collaboration platform, all unified under one master login and password.

Once all of the virtual wires are connected, these services are extremely user-friendly, allowing anyone with a bit of web savvy to become the “system administrator” for their office.

Follow the steps below, and you’ll be on your way to a customizable and scalable business infrastructure that lives where your employees do: in the cloud.

1. The Master Key: Your Google Account

Create a free consumer-level Google account (essentially, a Gmail address) that you’ll use to administer your business domain.

This could be your existing Gmail address, but if you already have other Google products connected to this account (YouTube ) Docs, Blogger, etc.), we recommend creating a new profile; yourbusinessname@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , for example.

Note that for the purposes of this tutorial, this will not be the e-mail address that you’ll be using to conduct business and correspond with clients. Consider it the “Master Key” account, which you will use to access the rest of your domain. Be sure to choose a strong but memorable password.

Mashable has the details HERE!