Google+ Your Business – Google+ Pages for Business Just Launched
The long awaited Google+ for Business solution was just announced. This is VERY exciting news and I see can all types of amazing possibilities.
Official Google announcement: Get closer to your customers with Google+
One of the biggest concerns I’ve had about + for Business was what will happen to Place pages and how will everything integrate. The answer is that for now the 2 solutions, Google Place Pages and Google+ Business Pages, are separate and have to be managed separately. Here is an editorial note added to the Small Business blog post.
Get closer to your customers with Google+
Many of you have already verified your Place page via Google Places for business. We encourage you to continue maintaining the information in your Google Places account to help ensure that potential customers can find accurate information about your business on Google Maps and local search. You may also want to supplement your Google Places account with a Google+ Page for your business, which provides you with additional ways to engage and directly interact with customers using Google+. Currently, however, Google Places accounts and Google+ Pages must be managed separately.
Here are links to some important Google+ for Business resources
Google+ Your Business – How it works and a collection of tools for businesses
Google+ Your Business Stream – Follow for news and tips
(Already lots of rave reviews as well as disgruntled users)
Google+ Page Discussion forum – Tips & connect with other page owners
Google+ Help Center – Help Docs
Google+ Direct Connect – A new way to search for businesses
This just launched and I am still reading and following links. It seems launch was rushed to satisfy the masses waiting for business pages and looks like there are still some kinks. Initially many reported not being able to set up a page yet, but gradually more and more can. So if you tried, wait a bit then try again. Be patient as this rolls out. It will be worth the wait!!!
I have a very strong feeling this is going to be huge and change lots of things for those of us that do local search consulting.
I’m sure I’ll have more to say after I digest all the news.
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#1 Eric "eRock" Christopher wrote on November 7, 2011 :
Awesome! Finally! When the beta launched I spent 20 minutes trying to get in….lol…. and didn’t! Jumping on this right now… Hmmm… wonder how this will integrate with Places and the new changes there.
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#2 Matt McGee wrote on November 7, 2011 :
Linda- would love to hear more about why you think this is going to be huge. In my experience, very few non-tech people are actively using Google+, and I can’t imagine that many will adopt it just because some local businesses suddenly have pages there. (Especially when you consider that any SMB that’s making a Google+ page is probably also smart enough to already have a Facebook page, where more of their customers and prospects are likely to be found.)
Matt McGee recently posted..Small Businesses Should Grab a Google+ Page, But…
#3 Linda Buquet wrote on November 7, 2011 :
Just read your post too Matt and totally agree with what you are saying.
I didn’t say though that this will be huge for SMBs OR their customers, at least right now and again I hear you as far as where the market is right now.
What I said was “this is going to be huge and change lots of things for those of us that do local search consulting.” I can see existing Places clients asking about it and wanting help setting a + Page up or asking lots of questions about how to get the most out of it. My Places clients ask me for all kinds of online marketing advice. Even about FB which I don’t deal with at all. Trust me when I say I know at least some of my clients are going to be wanting to jump on this and ask me for help, especially since I specialize in Google and this is a G product. Now I may just tell them don’t worry about it right now because not that many consumers are using it yet. BUT STILL they are going to ask and some will want to pursue it and want my help anyway.
And I can also see a day soon where somehow some way the Place page and + page are going to integrate. So there could be big changes for us to get used to there as well. Circles on your Place page? Or categories and description rules and kw optimization on your + Page? Who knows. All I know is this is going to shake things up a lot.
So that’s what I meant. It’s going to change things possibly in a big way, for those of us in the biz. And I think this is just the tip of the ice berg. I think a lot is coming and lots more will be changing soon. And it will create chaos for some, opportunities for others, or possibly just end up being a bunch of noise and then it all dies out. But somehow this time, I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen.
#4 dentist reviews wrote on November 7, 2011 :
Linda is correct. This will be helpful for local searchers in day to day life. Google says that the links shared on Google+ will have a great effect on rankings of the website. Small businesses can also get advantage of it. Google’s small business pages allows businesses to claim, operate and share with the rest of the Google+ community.
#5 John wrote on November 7, 2011 :
Hi Linda!
I agree with you that Google Plus tools for business are going to have a great impact on businesses. It may even change how businesses communicate and network. I believe it is an amazing tool. To keep up with Facebook, Google plus has taken the right step. Thanks for the informative article.
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#6 Kathy Long wrote on November 8, 2011 :
I agree with you Linda. I too believe Google + is going to change the SEO world. With so much of what I call artificial insemination of inbound links to game the system, Google is probably looking for a more credible way of assessing relevancy and popularity. Social media is a good way to do that and since Facebook kept them out for the most part, they had to create their own.
I am one SEO who will be strongly encouraging all her clients to climb on board with Google + for what I predict will be huge SEO benefit. But time will tell. I could be wrong.
#7 Gav Heppinstall wrote on November 8, 2011 :
I was really excited about Google+ for business and as instructed I held off creating a business page until it was officially rolled out as it would be worth the wait. Well I can only assume that most of the functions and features are yet to be rolled out and what we have at them moment is just the back bone to +Pages
I was really hoping that the launch of +Pages would mean a whole new world for integrating Google Places (as you probably were!) but if this is something on Googles agenda, it looks as if we will hav e to wait!
The only benefit I can seeat the moment is an additional citation and a few links. The ability to network from your +Page seems limited but I can understand the rationale for this in reducing spam.
Hopefully the best is yet to come!
Gav Heppinstall recently posted..Community Edits of Google Places – Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining!
#8 Jim Bryant wrote on November 8, 2011 :
I agree this will shake things up. Exactly how remains to be seen, but I can’t help but think that Places and + will integrate somehow. There’s just too many possibilities to leave them hanging out there as separate products.
I think a lot of what develops will be done by Google with one eye on anti-trust chatter though as they are definitely under the microscope
#9 Linda Buquet wrote on November 8, 2011 :
@Jim, Gav and Kathy. Yep, glad you agree.
One BIG problem with G+ Pages right now, I posted about yesterday over at their help forum, is that fact you can’t migrate or merge.
They told everyone to wait on setting up a biz page and only gave us personal pages. Fine. So now some people have TONS of followers and different circles they’ve set up and no way to move or merge. So they have to start over at ground 0 with no followers and build up from scratch again. I made some suggestions but have not been back over today yet to see if there were any replies.
#10 Linda Buquet wrote on November 8, 2011 :
CHECK THIS:
“Lost in all the hype around today’s announcement was the following paragraph from Google’s blog:
“People search on Google billions of times a day, and very often, they’re looking for businesses and brands. Today’s launch of Google+ Pages can help people transform their queries into meaningful connections, so we’re rolling out two ways to add pages to circles from Google search. The first is by including Google+ pages in search results, and the second is a new feature called Direct Connect.”
I’m telling ya, things are going to get interesting!
Above was highlighted from an insightful post here:
Why a Google+ Brand Page Could Be More Important Than Your Facebook Page
Linda Buquet recently posted..Important Google Places SEO Group Research re GEO Modifiers, Search Behavior and Rank Tracking
#11 Linda Buquet wrote on November 8, 2011 :
Another important tidbit about how + Pages could affect search, rankings, authority and ultimately conversions.
Inside AdSense blog:
“You can also link your site to your Google+ page so that all your +1s — from your Page, your website, and search results — will get tallied together and appear as a single total. Potential visitors will be more likely to see the recommendations your site has received, whether they’re looking at a search result, your website, or your Page, meaning your +1’s will reach not only the 40 million users of Google+, but all the people who come to Google every day. You can link your site to your Page either using the Google+ badge or with a piece of code. To set this up, visit our Google+ badge configuration tool.”
This would help your website get associated with more +1’s altogether, and Google has been very clear about this being used as a ranking factor from day one.