A Beginner's Guide For Businesses On Google Plus
With Facebook’s dominance of social media, many
businesses do not see the necessity of having a Google Plus page. However,
considering how easy a Google Plus page is to set up and taking into account
the number of features that Google Plus provides and Facebook does not, every
business should look into the possibility of signing up for one.
- What
will I use a Google Plus page for?
- How
do I want to portray myself on Google Plus?
- How
will I maintain my Google Plus account?
I will come back to these questions throughout this post, as
it is important to keep them in mind not just as you create your page, but as
you maintain your page as well.
2. Setting up your page:
You will be given five options when you start creating your
page, each option will affect the settings of your Google Plus account.
- Local
Business: for businesses that are catering for local clientele, such as
restaurants and bars
- Product/Brand:
for larger businesses that want to separate their product lines
- Company/Institution/Organization:
the main page for larger businesses
- Art/Entertainment/Sport:
sports teams, bands, musicians
- Other.
One company can have a number of pages. For example, an
international retail business could have a main company page and separate pages
for specific products and stores. Work out who your company caters for, but be
aware that you can add pages later on to increase your Google Plus presence.
You will then be asked to choose what category your business
is in. There is also the option to add a subcategory, allowing you to
differentiate your business from competitors. If you cannot think how best
to describe your company do not worry, you can always edit later on.
3. Make your page eye-catching:
Upload photos and videos relevant to your business onto your
page so that visitors can engage with the content. When they first visit your
page, potential customers will see your cover photo and your profile photo, so ensure
that they make your page instantly recognisable. You can even
have interactive cover photos.
There are three main ways for people to interact with your
page on Google Plus: They can ‘Share’ your page on their ‘Stream’, they can
‘+1’ your page (similar to Facebook’s ‘Like’) and they can ‘Follow’ you (very
much like the ‘Follow’ option on Twitter).
If a visitor shares your page, your profile picture will
appear in their ‘Stream’ along with a tagline. It is very important that you
write a clear description of your business in this tagline as it is often the
first thing that potential customers will read.
4. Spread the Word:
Clearly display your website on your Google Plus page and
vice versa. Most businesses put it in the ‘About’ tab. You can also put links
to your blog, Twitter and other social media accounts on your Plus page.
Put information about your business on your personal Google
Plus page (if you have one) and get your employees, partners and customers to
‘+1’ your page, or even ‘Share’ it.
Announce your new Plus account on Twitter, and Invite
followers on other social media platforms to ‘Follow’ you on Plus.
Make sure that the ‘+1’, ‘Follow’ and ‘Share’ buttons are
displayed clearly on your page.
Put similar businesses and industry experts into your
circles. As a business you can’t add personal pages to your circles until they
add you first, but if they do, make sure that you add them.
5. Stay active:
It is unlikely that Google Plus will be your
Business’ main social media account, but it is still important to keep it
interesting. If you are using a number of social media platforms, make sure that you
don’t repeat yourself on them too much.
Make sure you interact with your followers: ‘+1’ and comment
on their posts. You can even share a follower’s posts with your wider
community.
If you are not confident that you can maintain your Google
Plus page properly, you can pay companies to do it for you. There are also
instructional services such as Ezeesocial which make organising numerous social media
accounts easy and rewarding.
Tell us about how you promote your business on Google Plus.
Contact us on Twitter or leave your comments below.
A Beginner's Guide For Businesses On Google Plus
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Rating:
Unknown
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