Google Wave was released to a select number of individuals on September 30th, and the buzz is overflowing. But what exactly is Google Wave, you ask? It’s something new, and it’s out to change the way we think and use email as we know it today.

Google Wave is a real-time communication and collaboration platform on the web. It’s an amalgamation of email, wikis, chat, social media, social networking and project management. It contains email, documents, images, videos, maps and more.Think of it as social email.

A few of the major features of Google Wave include:

• It’s real-time. You can see what others are typing as they type.
• It’s open source. Any code developer can add to the innovations.
• It’s on the move. You can embed a wave in your blog or website.
• It’s like a wiki. Anyone can edit any other person’s contributions.
• It’s playback, playback, playback. Anything can be played again, so that you don’t miss a beat of the conversation.

The bottom line is that Google Wave is for communication and collaboration. Think of any group or team environment, and you can probably imagine how Google Wave could be used to enhance planning, project management and getting things done. Think teams at work, or the local PTA or customer support. There’s really no limit.

There have been a wealth of articles and resources posted online in the past few days to help you understand Google Wave more clearly and make better use of the technology.

Want to know all about it? Want to know how it’s different and why it matters?

To that end, check out the list of resources below, all to help you leverage Google Wave for your business and your personal life. That is, as soon as you can get your hands on it. As mentioned, Google released the application to a select number of individuals for beta testing, and because it works better when multiple people in a group share information and data within the environment Google allowed those users to invite others to join. Look for Google to open access to Google Wave to everyone in the future. Stay tuned!

For now, enjoy the Google Wave resources below:

Google Wave Resources

• Google Wave Home Page
• About Google Wave (Google)
• Request an Invitation from Google
• Google Wave Screens and Video
• Google Wave Developer Blog
• How To: Get Started with Google Wave
• Mashable’s Google Wave Guide
• Google Wave: 5 Ways It Could Change the Web
• Google Wave Starts Rolling: Picks Up Over 100,000 New Riders
• Will Google’s Wave Replace Email – And Facebook

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Check out our latest blog posts on StartupNation.com, a site devoted to helping entrepreneurs, startups and small business owners build business and achieve success.

Our four latest posts are as follows:

Going Beyond the Website Conversion to Measure Success
Look beyond a single website conversion event to measure success. Aim at maximizing lifetime value to generate higher returns for your business.

23 Google Tools for Your Website
Check out these 23 resources from Google to increase the performance of and to promote your website.

5 Killer B2B Digital Strategies
Who says business-to-business companies cannot leverage the digital channel to fuel growth? Learn five important B2B digital strategies.

Improve Website Navigation & Improve Your Conversion Rates
By improving your website’s navigational structure, you are sure to increase your conversion rates and generate more results from your website.

Next up on StartupNation will be Website Marketing NOW’s Landing Page Tips series, starting today. Be sure to check out the series and generate more leads, orders and sales from your Landing Pages!

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Fast Company recently announced The Fast Company 50, identifying the country’s 50 most innovative companies.

This is the second in a series of quick website evaluations, in which Website Marketing NOW is reviewing the websites of the top 10 of The Fast Company 50. Are the websites of these companies just as innovative as the companies themselves? Or not…

Number two on The Fast Company 50 list is Google.  Let’s see what Google is doing right with its website, and let’s see where there is room for improvement.

Google.com Website Strengths

The most wonderful aspect of Google’s website is its simplicity. The site seems to immediately understand visitors’ objectives in finding relevant content — and finding it lightning fast. And it delivers on this, for the most part. Instead of trying to be all things to all people, Google defines what it is good at, and then focuses with laser-like precision on that. This makes the site useful, and user-friendly.

For anyone interested in just searching, it’s as easy as pie.

For anyone interested in searching, images, news, videos, blogs, etc., Google provides a one-link option to access these additional types of searches. Easy enough.

For anyone interested in more advanced searches, Google provides a one-link option to access its advanced search form. Again, easy.

For anyone interested in leveraging Google as a business solution, there are three quick links at the bottom of the page. The solutions page provides businesses with an organized list of business solutions, ranging from Google AdWords, Google Products and Google Local Business Center, to Google Analytics, Google Website Optimizer and Google Checkout.

The bottom line is that Google is simple and easy to use. In this age of information overload, Google’s website is refreshing!

Google.com Website Weaknesses

There is little to dislike about the Google experience. The areas where the website could improve, though, would include visualization of the search experience. People come in all shapes and sizes. Some are fine with mostly text results. However, many people would benefit from a greater integration of visual elements with the text results. Although “Universal Search” means we are now seeing more videos and images included in the regular Search results, it would be beneficial to integrate visual elements of the sites themselves into the text-based Search results. Smaller engines like Ask.com enable the searcher to view a thumbnail preview of the sites listed in Search results, for example. Google should provide similar functionality as well.

Also, with regards to security, Google should follow Yahoo!’s lead in providing security ratings on all search results.

And finally, searches or search results should include an “intent filter,” something found on certain stock photography websites to help you find the exact content you are seeking in cases where words/phrases can have different meanings. For example, a search on the word “social” could be done with the intent of finding information relevant to “social gatherings,” “social issues” or on the other hand “social media.” Google should help us filter down to our actual intent more seamlessly.

(The organization ranked number one on the Fast Company 50 list is Team Obama. Check out the quick website evaluation here.)

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