Setting up a Google Plus Page is an easy way to leverage the power of social search. Google Plus Pages, also known as Google Plus for business, offers features and capabilities not found on other social sites.
Keep in mind that you must have a personal Google Plus profile first—before you can set up a business account. If you don’t have a personal account, here’s how to set one up.
Now, you’re ready to start marketing your business with Google Plus! You can do it in 4 easy steps:
1. Choose your category
Fill in basic information about your business. Remember, the idea is to help searchers find you, so make sure the information is accurate. You’ll be asked to choose from the following categories:
- Local Business or Place (local bricks-and-mortar businesses)
- Product or Brand
- Company, Institution or Organization
- Arts, Entertainment or Sports
- Other
Choose which category best fits your business and how you want it to be identified.
2. Create your public profile
This is where you customize your Page. Add a tagline first. This is basically 10 words that describe your business. Make it concise and use your primary keyword.
Then, add an image. This could be your company logo or any image that you want visitors to identify you by.
Now, fill in your Introduction. This is a paragraph that introduces visitors to your company—what it does, its products and services, hours, etc. You can add links to your site here, so feel free to include keyword anchor text. And as always, make it engaging!
Next, upload photos. Google Plus allows you to upload 5 images on your Page. Choose images that best represent your company, its brand and its attitude.
3. Promote your Page
Now it’s time to engage with fans. With Google Plus Pages, you can create Circles based on a variety of criteria. One Circle could contain contacts in a certain geographical area. Another could include those with certain job titles, responsibilities or positions. Segmenting your groups helps you target people with offers or messages specific to them.
Use Circles to follow fans, leave comments for them and +1 their Pages (the equivalent of a Facebook “like”).
Another promotional tool for Google Plus is Hangouts, where you can do live chat with up to 9 followers at once. Use it to hold conferences, product demos or other real-time activities.
4. Connect to your site
Direct Connect allows you to connect your Google Plus Page to your company’s site using the Google + badge configuration tool. Why is this cool? Well, once you link the two together, web searchers will be able to see your Google Plus Page listed in search results, along with your site. Then, they can not only go directly to your Page, they can also add it to their own Circles—right from the search results page.
A Google Plus Page is an agile new tool for business. So, get started and start connecting!
