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Sparkle (3)
Now that Google+ Pages has launched you might be asking yourself, do you really need another page for your business? The answer is yes. Though there is a lot of debate on whether Google+ is going to be a truly competitive social network for Facebook, there is one area that Facebook cannot compete and that is SEO.
SEO (search engine optimization) is one of the most powerful tools that Google+ has to offer a business.
- When you create a page you are instantly indexed
- You are creating more backlinks to your website
- Direct Connect - Google's new way to search online
Direct Connect is one of the more interesting elements of the SEO boost. It is trying to give pages more visibility in the search engines. Now if someone is searching for you page all they have to do is add "+" before your business name, ie. "+Your Business ", and they will pull up your page.
Harnessing Pages for Your Business?
Lets walk through setting up a basic business page and then we will look at how to give your page an edge.
1 . Sign up: Go to: www.google.com/+/business/
- Click "Create your Goolge+ Page"
3. Category: Select the main category for your page.
- Local Business or Place- this is for if you are primarily local or have a physical location.
- Product or Brand- if you are creating a page for one specific product item or for a brand. Tip: Bloggers this is where you want to be!
- Company, Institution or Organization- this is the general business category
- Arts, Entertainment or Sports- anything having to do with these categories, though often these are people like artists and musician or groups of people like a sports team.
- Other- If you just don't quite fit anywhere, you can assign your own category. Tip: I don't really recommend this unless you have to because you are missing out on the "category" search benefit of Google+.
4. Sub-Category: After you select a main category you will be able to select a sub category that best describes you.
5. Page Name: Enter in your page name. This is what everyone will see as your page name and how people will find you. Do not make it too complicated and keep it to something that is easy to remember.
- Though vanity URLs are not currently available, they will not be long in coming and you would rather have plus.google.com/mywebsite than plus.google.com/dontyouwishyourwebsitewerecoollikethis as your URL.
Keep it clean and keep it simple!
6. URL: Enter in the URL for your website.
7. Age Restriction: You can opt to have age restriction on your page. This is good if you talk about mature issues, alcohol or drugs. The ages restrictions available are 13+, 18+ and 21+.
8. Profile Photo: Your profile photo is your face to the world. You may want to put your logo in here, or a picture of you. But whatever you decide make sure that the picture is square. Unlike Facebook, Google+ Pages give limited real estate to your pic.
9. Tag Line: This is where you get to put some quick little tidbit about your business. Think of this as your elevator pitch. You want something that describes your page and essentially draws someone into the page.
Tip:Give yourself an SEO boost and use keywords in this tag line. Once you are done you will be asked if you want to share your page on your Google+ profile. Go ahead and say yes. This is a great way to share your page with your various circles.
Give Your Page an Edge
You may be thinking that the set up process was really easy, and wondering why you did not have to fill out a ton of questionnaires about your business, information, description, contact information, etc. That is because you don't have to have any of that information on your page. But trust me, you want all that information on your page.
