Google+ for business

Google+ for business

Outline:

1. What is Google+2. Why Google+3. Benefits4. Set up your page5. An effective Hovercard6. Google+ Dashboard7. Connect with others (Circles)8. Get noticed/posting9. Communities10. Insights and Ripples

What is Google +

Google+ is the social network created by Google and was launched in September 2011.

as of January 2013 Google + had replaced Twitter as the second largest social network behind Facebook. Current figures of over 400 million users.

Why Google+

88.37% of searches in the UK use GoogleThe Google +1 button is used 5 billion times per day.

Why Google+

BenefitsAuthorship – Your Google+ presence will solidify your identity across the

internet.Build the following for your brand.Boosts SEO performance.Join and/or build online communities relating to your customers passionsCreate ‘hangouts’ to enable group meetings, demonstrations or discussions.Publicise and promote events.Create webinars (hangouts through your business page).

It’s VERY simple!

…using Google+ can help increase your company’s visibility in Google’s organic search results, therefore increasing the

likelihood of potential customers finding you.

Set up your business page

Local business pages Connect with your local customer/potential customer base.Create footfall.Include a map of the business's location and feature its address, phone number and hours of operation.

Set up your business page

Pages for brands, organisations or artists

connect with followers, fans and customers.These pages don’t include addresses or other physical location information that appears on Google Maps. You may choose from the following page types:– Product or Brand– Company, Institution or Organisation– Arts, Entertainment or Sports– Other

Setting up your profile

An effective ‘Hovercard’

Your internet ‘business card’

The Google+ Dashboard

Connect with others

Click People, then click ‘Your Circles’.

Circles

Circles• Circles allow you to create and share information with groups just like you have in your

real life social circles. For example:• Friends – Those I trust with my information and can see the majority of my

posts, photos, etc.• Following – Don’t see my posts, but I want to see their posts.• Business Contacts – See some of my posts, mostly those related to business.• Work Friends – See some of my posts, mostly those related to life at work.• Geeks – See some of my posts, mostly those on topics about technology and

gadgets.• Competition – research your competitors.

So come up with your list of circles and create them. Once you’ve created your circles, begin adding your contacts to one or more circles. It’s perfectly fine to add a contact to more than one circle.

Connect with others

start adding contacts to specific circles. The names of these circles can also be customised to whatever you require. (This is done by right clicking

the circle and choosing edit.)

You’re ‘Circled’!

Google+ users can circle your company page, it means they have opted in to receive information from you without having to fill

out any forms or communicate via email. It’s THAT easy!

Get noticed!

• Circle the influencers in your specific industry.• Comment on popular posts, as well as not so popular posts.• Press the magic Google +1 button, it really does help people.• Look for people that are engaging in conversations and circle

them.• Reach out to people on an individual basis, thank them, let

them know you like their information.• Share helpful and useful information so that people will want

to circle you.

Posting

Posts shared to circles or to individuals cannot be seen by the public as a

whole.

People that view your profile will not see any of the posts that haven't been shared with them - they can only see public posts.

Posting

HOWEVER….. Only public posts are eligible to be listed in the Google search results.

SO….if you are optimising your posts for SEO be sure

to make your post.

Public.

Posting

Sharing a post to a circle DOESN'T mean that everyone you have placed in that

circle will see the post, only those that follow you back

will.

Communities

There are communities for almost every subject on Google+ and these can be accessed via the left hand side Navigation pane, Communities.

Google Insights

Understand your audience and their interactions.

Google Insights

Audience view – a demographic portrait of your followers.Engagement reports.Visibility tab – shows your page view totals.

Creating ‘Ripples’

On any Google+ post, there's a small icon in the upper right corner that reveals the Options Menu for that post. Within that menu you can edit or delete the post, disable comments or lock

sharing,and access Ripples.

Creating ‘Ripples’

Hangouts!

This feature is essentially a video chatroom, and enables Google+ users to participate in live, and often times spontaneous, video chats. Hangout can be opened to any of your Circles, offered to friends via email, or left public so that anyone could choose to pop in. All participants are required to have a webcam, mic and a Google+ profile.

Hangouts!