Google+ has opened the doors for business and brand pages.
In this article I show you
how to set up your Google+ page and provide examples.
If
you haven’t already created a personal Google+ profile for yourself,
you’ll need to do that first (you cannot simply sign up a business page
from the main Google+ signup screen).
Check out the
How to Get Started With Google+ for more on personal Google+ profiles.
If you do have a personal profile, here’s how to
create a page for your business.
Visit
Create a Page on Google+ to begin, and follow the steps below to get started with Google+ pages.
Pick a category
Pick a category for your Google+ page to fall under.
The first step in getting started creating your Google+ page is to
choose from the following five main categories.
#1: Local Business or Place
Local
Business or Place includes any local business—hotels, restaurants,
places, stores or services. If you choose this category, you will be
asked for the country in which your business is located and the primary
phone number.
If Google finds a matching result in Google Places
with your phone number, it will use this information for your Google+
profile. If not, you can
add your business info to Google and continue.
Add your local business information to Google+.
#2: Product or Brand
Examples
given by Google+ of pages that would fit under Product or Brand include
apparel, cars, electronics and financial services.
Add your Product or Brand info and choose the most applicable category.
Here, you would
enter your page name and website, and choose an applicable category which includes anything from Aerospace and Defense to a Website, or you can simply choose Brand, Other, Product or Service.
#3: Company, Institution or Organization
The
next category, Company, Institution or Organization includes pages for
companies, institutions, organizations and non-profits or similar
entities. Here you also enter your page name and website, and choose an
applicable category with the same options as a Product or Brand page, or
you can simply choose Company, Institution, Organization or Other.
#4: Arts, Entertainment or Sports
Pages
for movies, TV, music, books, sports and shows are considered a good
fit for the Arts, Entertainment or Sports section. Again, you will enter
your page name and website, and choose an applicable category—this time
with options ranging from Album to Website, or you can simply choose
Entertainment, Other or Sports.
#5: Other
If
you don’t feel your page fits in any of the above-mentioned categories,
you can simply select Other, where you can enter your page name and
website without any additional narrowing of category selection.
For pages in any category, you must also
choose
whether your page’s content is suitable for any Google+ user, users 18
or older, users 21 or older or specifically note that the content will
be alcohol-related. Then you will tick boxes to opt-in to updates for Google+ pages and agree to terms and conditions to continue.
Determine the appropriate age group for your page to be visible to based on content.
Be sure to actually
check out the Google+ Additional Terms of Service to see their notes on Authority, Access, Content, Data,
Contests and Suspension & Termination.
Customize Your Page’s Public Profile
Once you’ve selected your page’s category, you can start customizing your page’s public profile.
#1: Add Your Profile Photo and Tagline
First, you will be asked to add your tagline (the 10 words that best describe your page) and your page’s profile photo.
Add your Google+ page’s tagline and profile photo.
After
you have added these items and clicked on Continue, you will be asked
to spread the word about your new page through your personal Google+
profile. If you’re not ready yet (which you probably aren’t, since you
haven’t completed your profile),
click on Finish to be taken to your new page.
#2: Editing Your Page Information
Once
you’ve perused your page’s welcome screen, you will want to edit your
page’s information. Go to your page’s profile by clicking on the Profile
icon at the top, left of the Search Google+ box. Then go to your About
tab and Edit Profile.
Edit information for your profile’s About section.
Here
you will be able to click on everything from your page name to your
links to enter relevant information about your page within Introduction,
Hours (for local businesses or places), Website and Contact Info
(phone, email, Skype, etc.). Also be sure to
enter additional links to your page
in the Introduction section using the Link button and under Recommended
Links to link to your other social profiles, blog, blog posts and so
on. Keep in mind important keywords for your business – if you are a
digital marketing agency, be sure to include
digital marketing in your profile.
#3: Adding Your Photostrip
Last
but not least when it comes to your Google+ page design is filling in
your photostrip. These five photos will be displayed underneath your
page’s name and tagline.
Add photos that best represent your page in your photostrip beneath your page name and tagline.
It’s
similar to the five photos you can have on your Facebook page. While
editing your profile, click on the photo area where it says “add photos
here” and upload a photo in each of the five photo spots. You can
use different photos that represent your business or creatively cut one photo into five pieces and spread it across the area.
Congratulations! Your Google+ Page Is Ready.
Once your profile is ready, you can
start posting to your profile by adding status updates, links, photos and videos
just like you do on your personal Google+ profile. I would suggest
writing a post or two before you use the “Spread the word” option in
your right sidebar to announce your page to your personal profile
connections.
Following and Engaging With Your Fans
So what’s the difference between a Google+ page and a Facebook page? The big one I’ve noticed so far is the fact that
you can follow your page’s fans back and add them to Circles.
To
find out who has added your page to their Circle, you can check your
Notifications under Stream in the left sidebar. You can also look under
your Circles > People who’ve added you area by clicking on the
Circles icon.
Follow your Google+ page’s fans by moving them into Circles.
In this screen, you can
drag your fans into one or more of the four default circles.
- Team Members—The
people you will share the inside scoop with. This could be a great way
to share company news with only the people you want to see it.
- VIPs—Your most loyal customers and closest partners.
- Customers—All
the people or organizations you want to build deeper relationships
with. You could possibly use this Circle to send out special discounts
and promotions!
- Following—People you don’t know personally but whose posts you find interesting.
Just as you can with your personal profile, you can also
create new Circles.
There
are a lot of ways you can successfully use your custom Circles for
marketing and messaging, such as creating Circles of fans in a specific
location and sharing updates with them about geo-specific offers.
Universities
can create Circles for professors, alumni, undergraduate, graduate and
prospective students and then share updates with them about news related
to their current status with the university. The possibilities are
endless.
This also means you can
follow your fans’ updates, comment on your fans’ status messages, and +1 their updates as your page.
The functionality for a Facebook fan page to interact with a personal
profile on Facebook isn’t there, but it is in Google+. Your fans will
even see your interaction with their updates in their notifications!
Google+ users will see your page’s interactions with their profiles in their notifications.
This, in my opinion, is
going to be a very powerful way for businesses or brands to communicate with their audiences.
For
example, if there is a complaint, the Google+ page can reply publicly
on their page, and then privately to the Google+ user by sending a
status update directly to them. With Facebook pages, the page can only
reply on the wall update but not directly communicate with the Facebook
user.
Connecting Your Google+ Page to Your Website
You can
connect your website to your Google+ page using the
Google+ badge configuration tool. Currently only the icons are available, but official badges are coming soon.
Connecting your Google+ page to your website.
Regardless
of whether you want to add a badge to your website, you will want to
connect your Google+ page to your website simply for the search
benefits.
Google+ Direct Connect will allow visitors to find your Google+ page and add it to their Circles, directly from Google search results. To do this, simply add the following code between the <head> </head> tags on your website.
<link href="{plusPageUrl}" rel="publisher" />
Replace
{plusPageUrl} with your Google+ page URL. Then visitors will be able to
add your Google+ page to Circles simply through their search results.
7 Google+ Page Examples
If you’re in need of some creative inspiration, here are a few established Google+ pages for social media enthusiasts.
#1: Social Media Examiner
Social Media Examiner’s page gains instant popularity on Google+.
A list of great Google+ pages would be incomplete without
Social Media Examiner!
#2: Social Media Explorer
Social Media Explorer’s Google+ page uses photostrip images to convey education.
Social Media Explorer‘s page marries its tagline of education and information perfectly with its photostrip images.
#3: Mashable
Mashable was one of the first brands to put its presence on Google+.
Mashable appeared, then shortly disappeared in the early days of Google+, but has once again emerged.
#4: Search Engine Land
Search Engine Land breaks the latest news about Google+.
Although its focus may be search marketing,
Search Engine Land also offers extensive social media coverage, especially when Google+ is concerned.
#5: HootSuite
HootSuite uses its Google+ photostrip to represent a worldwide user base.
HootSuite displays its diversity through a variety of expressive icons in the photostrip.
#6: Google+
Google+ positions its page as an authority for its own network.
Another page that is a must-have for any list of Google+ pages is that of
Google+ itself.
#7: Twitter
Twitter is just starting up its presence on Google+.
Although it isn’t active yet,
Twitter is on the ball by creating a brand page on Google+.
What Are Your Thoughts on Google+ Pages?
Have you begun experimenting with Google+ pages for your website, brand or business?
Please let us know your experience so far, additional tips you would
like to share with those getting started and the best Google+ pages
you’ve seen thus far!
以
前還一度以為是外連檔案後面那個謎字串 ?attredirects=0 搞的鬼，因為之前測試加了該字串好像會正常，但其實是因為當下我有登入
Google Sites 的關係。至此，我想我是完全放棄用 Google Sites 來取代 Google Pages
了（這狀況已經一段時間，我也上 Google Groups 去反應，看來還是沒進度）！在尋找其他解的過程中，看到了有人推薦使用 Google Code、
一項 Google 提供給使用者用來公佈及開放程式碼的平台，為了讓用戶能自由下載、修改和分享程式和專案的原始碼，該服務平台也有提供 File
Hosting 的機制，讓專案主人能放置檔案公開分享和連結使用。當然，這些公開的原始碼檔案也提供像是版本控制、描述分類等專案控管的機制，還有
Wiki 和 Issues 讓管理者和使用者能控制和掌握專案的進度和變動（還支援 Google Analytics 來監看存取流量），算是一個相當簡單、又配備大部分該有功能的程式碼控管平台。
