March 2012

Chris Abraham Presents: How to Use Google+ for your Business

Your GMail Account

Do You Have a Gmail Account?

• Before we can move forward towards creating a Google+ Business Page, it is important to create a Gmail/Google Account: http://bit.ly/createNewGoogleAccount

• When setting up your new account, please be sure to be serious about your account, using your real, full, name, your real personal information, and fill out as much information as you're comfortable giving; however, give until it hurts if you plan to use Google to its full potential

Your GMail Account

Do You Have a Gmail Account?

• If you already have a Google Apps or Google Business account through your employer, you're already eligible to create your Google+ account through your business domain. In that case, you'll not need to create a Gmail account.

• Be sure to upload or port your personal and business address book into your personal or corporate Google Mail account, into the Contacts portion of your Mail. This will allow you to "find" your personal and professional friends on Google+ easily and simply down the road.

Your Google ProfileHave You Populated Your Google Profile?

• As part of the setup of your Gmail account or your G+ account, Google will ask you a series of questions. Each question you answer will add pieces to your complete Google Profile

• If you want to get it over with in one go, please fill out your profile directly: https://profiles.google.com

• If you're worried about your privacy, Google offers you a dashboard, a place you can go to limit public data access to your Google personal information and profile: https://www.google.com/dashboard

Your Google ProfileHave You Populated Your Google Profile?

• There are so many pieces and parts you can look at on the Google "privacy" Dashboard, just remember that Google does reward you for giving 'til it hurts, so to speak.

• Do keep an eye out as to erroneous information since Google has been collecting a dossier on your since well before you actively decided to join Gmail or G+, so be sure to take some time to correct any assumptions that Google has about you that is obsolete or no longer true.

• Every detail that you give to your Google Profile -- and every decision you make to make that information "public" -- will reward you with an SEO and personal brand "bump" in organic Google search.

Your Google+ Account

Have You Joined Google+?

• If you have already joined G+ but have not been back in a while, be sure to log in and look around.

• Go to your Google Plus settings and make sure you share things publicly as a default -- we're setting this entire thing up for the most business punch and business sense so anything that is not public -- open to search indexing -- will not help your branding.

Your Google+ Account

Have You Joined Google+?

• When I started using G+, I would often share thing in a limited way because G+ is very careful about protecting your privacy these days and errs on the side of propriety.

• Ever since Twitter cut off Google from it's real time web "pulse," Google has been trying to replace these tweets -- Google+ is its only plan for this and you can benefit

Set Up Your Google+ AccountHave You Created a Google+ Business Page?

• If you haven't already, create a G+ business page at this URL: https://plus.google.com/u/2/pages/create

• Be very careful during the setup process in order to make sure you have chosen the correct category of page.

• Be sure to set up everything as thoroughly as possible and come from a place of inclusion -- take the time to find and follow any and all the people you can, including competitors and foes. Why? Because we're playing to Google, not brand.

Set Up Your Google+ Account:

Have You Created a Google+ Business Page?

• Google, like all social networks, prioritize search result benefits on the size and importance of one's social graph as well as based on keywords.

• Organize your circles with care because you cannot have more than 5,000 people in one circle -- so don't just pile everyone into "Following.”

• Select the individuals in your organization who will have admin privileges, as of February 2012 there can be more than one.

Set Up Your Google+ AccountSeeding Content to your Google+ Business Page.

• If you get into the habit of just dropping links and clicking submit into your stream, you're not doing yourself too much of a favor -- be sure to frame the post with as much comment as you like -- but since Google is explicit, be sure to make sure you consider keywords and phrases that help describe the content of your link or your comment.

• If you drop links to your blog, site, articles, press releases, products, and services and you have junk results populated with the wrong photos or ugly titles and descriptions, you might want to make sure you work on how your sites and properties are set up, implementing better processes, including improvements in site speed, site architecture, and SEO and Google-supported HTML title and description tags.

Set Up Your Google+ AccountSeeding Content to your Google+ Business Page.

• Always be sure to "share" every post you post to your G+ Business Page to your own G+ stream -- also, comment and +1 your own business page if you feel comfortable -- remember that the social graph takes everything into account: # of comments, +1s, and shares -- the G+ equivalent of Twitter Retweets and Facebook Shares and Likes...

IMPORTANT NOTE: although Google does a good job or reminding you, when you're posting as your Google+ Business Page, you're in a different role -- you're using G+ as your brand not as yourself.

Set Up Your Google+ Account

Quick and Easy Steps for Maximizing your Google+ SEO Potential

• Make sure all your posts are Public

• Use a clean URL when you add your content

• Prefixing names with a plus sign links that name to the person’s profile

• Even though it is public, you still need friends, circles, engagement, and sharing

Quick and Easy Steps for Maximizing your Google+ SEO Potential

• Get that Google +1 button on all your properties, blogs, corporate sites, personal sites, etc.

• TAKE YOUR TIME and BE THOUROUGH

• Consider inviting your contacts to use Google+

• Become an authentic member of the community

Set Up Your Google+ Account

Questions?

Thanks for your time, I’ve enjoyed speaking with you!

Chris AbrahamAbraham Harrisonwww.abrahamharrison.comcabraham@abrahamharrison.com