Google has recently opened the doors to Google+ for Business. Not sure what it is? That’s okay – you soon will. Essentially a Google+ Page is very similar to Facebook Fan page. Its a place where you can share news about your business with the people who follow you.
Its a Little Bit Like Facebook
Like Facebook, you need to have a Google+ personal profile before you can set up a Google+ Page. Once you have a profile you can make recommendations. You can display your personal profile with a badge.
The recommendations button (plus One) looks like the images below. When you have a profile, you can share your recommendations to other people who are connected to your personal profile. If you have recommended something e.g. a brand of golf shoes and a friend of your is searching for golf shoes, then your recommendation will appear in the search results (if they are connected to you). In fact, you may have noticed the plus button appearing on many pay per click ads, on websites or even in the search results.
The Google+ Page Badge
The Google + Page for Business is a little different but related. First you need to set up a Google+ Page, and then you can display your Google+ Page Badge on your website. This badge looks a little different. You can see an example of it below.
If you click on the badge, it will take you to a business page profile (in this case, our Swoop Digital profile which awe are setting up at the time of writing).
How You Can Use The Page
It is on this page that you can stream news, information to people who follow you. It is different to a website in that the information is dynamic where companies can use video and engage in discussions with their followers. You can choose who to stream information to. By default, a Google+ business page of People you follow, Customers. VIPs, and Team Members. You can add your own special interest groups as well. The key thing though is that you can share more tailored information to different audiences. This helps you provide relevant, timely information.
Whilst this is all very new, we believe that in many cases, it might be more appropriate for some businesses than having a Facebook Fan Page. What’s more if you have a business page and type in “+” followed by the name of your business in Google search, it will mean people can get directly to your Google+ page. This shortcut is called Direct Connect.
One thing to remember, if you do have a page its important to have a strategy in place before you decide to set it up.
Implications of Google+ Page
Google’s entry into a more social space, means search engine optimisation is changing. If you want your website to rank, you need to do more than get backlinks. You now need to become social as well. You also need to start employing strategies to encourage other people to share information about your business with their connections. Bear in mind though that this will become a mandatory for any company looking to establish a presence on the Internet.
For a long time, search was driven by the number of links a website gained. As people became aware of this, search was driven not only by the number of links but also from where the links came from. Having more links from a variety of sources and reputable authoritative websites (e.g. news.com.au) became the next big thing in search.
The next stage of search engine is integrating social signals. Whilst it isn’t here yet, it is coming. Google already owns You Tube and Google Places so integration is very possible. It’s important to make sure you have the right ingredients in place before it happens.
You can find out more about Google+ Pages and how to create them. If you like this post, consider sharing it.