Creating a Google+ Page for your business

Earlier this week we talked about what benefits a Google+ page can bring to brands and businesses today we’re talking about the basics of setting up your own Google Plus business page.

Creating your own Google+ page is quite straight forward but would benefit from a bit of strategy about how your business wants to use the network. To start, simply log into your Google account or create a new account if you haven’t already got one for your business. Please remember to ONLY HAVE ONE Google Account for ALL your Google Products. Next, navigate to your +You profile page. On the right hand side there will be a box with the topic “Create Google+ Pages” click the “Create Google+ Page” which will take you straight to the sign up page.

Whilst configuring your business Google+ page, you can set it to be invisible to others, so they can’t see your edits.


When making your Google+ page, it is important that you select an appropriate category and fill in as many details as possible; add links, images, choose an appropriate title and when you’re happy with the appearance and functionality of your page, go ahead and make it public. To access and manage this new page you will toggle between the profile and the page.

Remember the Flashlight Search Marketing team can set this up for you, if you haven’t got the in house resource to complete and optimise your Google+ page.

If you’re hunting for ideas for your business Google+ page, why not take a look at some of these already established brands, such as H&M, Pepsi or X Games.

Once you’ve put together your page, please find a selection of opportunities to develop your Google+ page and some pointers to be aware of as aof25th November 2011. Google+ will be evolving and refining the network with new features and tools over the coming months.
Opportunities to develop your Google+ page

Flashlight can offer lots of useful page optimisation tips on how to use configuration tools for developers and linking your Google+ page and your website in webmaster tools.

We recommend:

• Connecting your accounts from other services
• Creating video for your news feed because videos are weighted more heavily that other types of content
• Learning how to build campaigns on Google+ differently to the Facebook and twitter channels
• Making use of the feature introduced on 2 November 2011 that allows you to +1 a photo
• Adding a reciprocal social share badge link back from your Google+ page to the main page of your website.
• Selecting tabs to display to your visitors
• Reviewing how your profile appears to different people
• Checking out how linked sites are eligible for Google Direct Connect
• Utilising the feature of +1’s being shown with your brand page and search ads
• Considering a future best practice strategy for linking the Google+ page to an Adwords campaign

Limitations and things to remember

1. Ability to link page to Adwords Campaign not yet implemented.
2. Google+ will not allow brands to run promotions or competitions directly on the social network - although you are allowed to display a link leading to a separate site where a promotion is being hosted.
3. Need a maximum 10 participants to hold a hangout.
4. There's a 90 minute check-in to make sure you're still there.
5. Can’t rename photo albums once created.
6. Does not have the ability to create multiple administrators to a page.
7. Unlike some other Google webservices, Google Analytics is not currently integrated completely with G+, however referrals will appear from plus.google.com.
   
8. Does not have the ability to customise the URL / no vanity URL yet.
9. You aren't able to see a complete list of the people included in your extended circles; it's a collection of people that's frequently changing.
10. If a given page isn't in the circles selected to be displayed on your profile, that page won't be able to display your profile as among those who are following it.
11. A page admin cannot add people to the page’s Circles unless that person has already added the brand to their Circle
12. Use a clean URL when you add your content to Google+. Google+ hasn't been translating URL shorteners well, so our tip is use a link from the source.
13. Instant Upload is only available for Android devices (2.1+) with the Google+ app installed.
14. Google is not including the +1 button on mobile search results at this time. However, users may be able to see any +1 buttons they have added to web pages.

We have already set up a number of optimised Google+ brand pages for our clients, if you would like the Flashlight Search Marketing Team to developme a strategy or set up a Google Plus page for you, or if you’re interested in learning more about how your business can establish/improve their online presence, please call the Rocktime Sales team on 01202 678777, or use our contact us form to set up a meeting to discuss how we can assist.


Author: Fiona Anderson & Alice Cheetham