Google+ has a lot to offer businesses. You may think that it’s just another social network, but it’s not. It’s an entire social search engine, considering how it’s tied in with Google. In this article, you’ll learn the benefits of increasing your business’s presence on Google+, how to set up a Google+ business page and how to maintain it.
Why Do I Need A Google+ Businesses Page?
You’re probably already thinking that your business has enough of a social presence. You have a Facebook Business Page, an official Twitter account and maybe even a Pinterest account with a good amount of followers. So what does Google Plus for Business bring to the table that others don’t? Here’s just a few reasons you should be interested in creating a Google+ Business Page:
- It allows you to potentially impact search results. Users can see your business, how much people that they know like it and more. This fact alone can make or break a sale.
- Google+ has fewer members and that means less competition. This means that the people who don’t know about your business (yet) will be be easy for you to target. You also won’t have to climb over other businesses to get their attention like you have to do on other social mediums.
- You can create personal relationships with your customers by publishing unique and professional content.
Creating Your Google+ Business Page
To create your Google+ business page, first you’ll need a personal Google+ account. Once you’ve done that, you simply visit the “Create a Page” page on Google+. From there, the first step is to choose what category your Google+ business falls under. You’ll be able to choose from categorizing your business as:
- A Local Business or Place
- A Product or Brand
- A Company, Institution or Organization
- Arts, Entertainment or Sports
- Other
The fifth option allows you to essentially pick that you’re “not sure” where your business falls in terms of the outlined categories. You can directly skip to naming your page and the next step with it. Once you have your page created, you can begin setting it up. The first thing you’ll do is to add a profile photo and a tagline. This is a great place for a logo and any type of keyword-rich motto that your business has. The next thing you’ll need to do is to edit your page’s information. You can enter everything that people need to know about your business here, including the hours, contact information and website of your business. You’ll also be able to give brief “About” and “Introduction” paragraphs to familiarize other people with your business. One thing to note is that you can link keywords in the paragraph entry parts of this process. Don’t forget to do that. Next, you’ll add your photostrip. These are five photos that will be displayed directly underneath your Google+ business page’s name and tagline. Don’t be afraid to be creative with your photostrip.
Connecting With Your Fans and Maintaining Your Page
One key difference that Google+ business pages have is the ability to follow your fans back. This allows you to add them to circles that you create. You can add staff members, business partners and even your customers to custom circles so you can keep them in order. You can also interact with their status updates, which is something you should do to develop personal relationships with them. As far as the Google+ business page creation process goes, you’re done. You do need to get some followers to your page, but that shouldn’t be too hard if you have a personal Google+ account oriented towards business already. The one thing you do need to do to succeed with Google+ is to be active. You should publish new content, whether that’s status updates, new reports, new products or simply interacting with your customers to make them feel special. Remember that the only way you will see success with Google+ is by being active. The more active you are in building a positive presence, then the more likely you will be successful in converting random people in followers and customers.
Citations: Image By designbolts.com (Freeiconsweb.com) [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
About The Author
I have literally just opened up a business page on Google+, I didnt even know they existed until recently! I am still trying to work around how to use it to it’s best advantage. I would like to create the photo strip that you mentioned, but cant work out how to do this. Do you have any suggestions?
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Google+ is definitely the place to watch… it should grow even bigger this year.
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