'Net Features : google+

Google+ Page Management Comes to Sprout Social

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:10:00 GMT

As a regular Sprout Social user, I was pleased as I can be about yesterday’s release of the new Google+ Pages API integration, which gives Sprout’s 10,000 customers the ability to manage Google+ pages. Finally!

“Today’s Google+ integration is a highly anticipated addition and further solidifies Sprout as a truly integrated social management platform,” says Justyn Howard, founder and CEO of Sprout Social. “Our customers can now seamlessly engage with the millions of people who rely on Google+ to connect with their favorite brands in meaningful ways.”

Sprout Social is one of the few social media management solutions to ease the burden of multi-channel social media posting with the addition of Google+. Until yesterday, I was using DoShare, a highly recommended and handy little Chrome app that lets users connect to their Google accounts and write and schedule updates. It worked well, but there weren’t any statistics and it was a real pain to hop back and forth between programs. The Sprout Social rollout however is likely going to be a lot better but not just because of the savings in time.

The social media management platform also enables its users to take advantage of Google+ Circles. Sprout users will have the ability to target specific circles along with other features including saving drafts, scheduling posts and more.

“We were careful to be sure our Google+ capabilities didn’t feel bolted on, but rather fit seamlessly to improve the overall Sprout experience and enable better social communications,” notes Howard. “As with every enhancement we build, our primary goal is to ensure customers will be successful using Google+ as an extension of their brand.”

7 Ways to Build Authority on Google+

Allison Howen — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:00:00 GMT

As the looming Penguin update (version 2.0) hovers overhead, search professionals are left wondering how the unknown changes to Google’s search algorithm will impact their company’s digital visibility.

While Google always holds its cards close to its virtual chest when it comes to its search algorithm, Matt Cutts (who is in charge of Google’s webspam team) has announced in a recently released video that the company is looking to give special ranking boosts to sites that are authorities in a specific industry, community or space. Although Cutts doesn’t define how authority will be determined, one could speculate that the company’s social network, Google+, could be an influencer.

This scenario wouldn’t be surprising at all, especially because Google has been incorporating its social network into a variety of its products, including its search engine, for a while now. So in the case that Google+ does indeed become a factor in determining authority, one question remains – How can a brand build authority on Google+?

1. Grow Your Circles

A brand with 20 followers on Google+ doesn’t come off as very authoritative in its niche. That said, building a fan base on this social network can be challenging, especially for companies whose fan base spends the bulk of its time on other social networks, like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. However, there are ways that brands can increase their popularity on Google+.

Start by growing the people within your circles, which is a tactic that is frequently used on Twitter. By doing this, your brand’s name and Google+ profile is being put in front of new people, which influences them to return the favor. And the more people a brand adds to its circles, the more likely it is to receive higher follow back numbers (keep in mind that not everyone will follow you back). While you can add anyone to your circles, this strategy is most effective when targeting relevant people. To do this, brands should search for influencers within their industry, as well as for contacts that they already have on other platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even email lists.

Furthermore, if you already have an active audience on a social network like Facebook or Twitter, make sure to promote your Google+ profile with your audience on these platforms. You can even tease exclusive Google+ content in order to persuade your audience members to make a profile and follow your brand on Google+.

2. Post Fabulous Content

Content is, and will always be, king. In fact, nothing says that you are an authority on a topic more than content that receives high engagement metrics, like shares, comments and +1’s. And regardless of your follower numbers, the only way to obtain high engagement rates is with content that captures attention and makes audiences feel like they need to share the information with their circles. There is absolutely no way around it – in order to receive high engagement numbers, brands must create and post content that resonates with their audience, is relevant and is in high-demand.

3. Leverage Communities and Hangouts

To be an authority within your niche, your presence on Google+ most go beyond posting regular status updates. Luckily, Google’s social network offers a variety of avenues for brands to foster relationships with their audience, including Google+ Communities and Hangouts.

Communities, for instance, allow users to create social groups based on specific topics or interests. And when a brand fosters an active community, it not only helps them build better relationships with their audience and acquire more brand advocates, but also helps them obtain more interactions and therefore gain authority within their niche. In addition, brands can use Google Hangouts as another unique way to build relationships and increase engagement rates, which, ultimately, helps a brand gain authority.

4. Interact with Your Audience

We have already established that shares, comments and +1’s help a brand gain authority, so what better way to encourage this type of behavior than by interacting with your own audience? Just as adding people to your circles can influence them to return the favor, so can interacting with people. That said, you shouldn’t just start interacting with everybody and every status update. Rather, choose your interactions wisely so that you do not come off as unprofessional (and un-authoritative). For example, if someone comments on one of your posts, consider responding back. This will help build brand loyalty by showing the audience member that you pay attention and care about what they say – making them more likely to interact with your brand in the future. Likewise, if someone posts interesting content that is relevant to your industry, an action as simple as a +1 or share could influence them to return the favor in the not-too-distant future.

5. Network with Other Brands

Take your interaction strategy up a notch by networking with other brands and industry professionals. While the aforementioned audience interaction tips can be applied here as well, you can also partner with other brands and professionals to share contributed (guest) content with your audience. By doing this, your business is not only providing its readers with relevant content from respected industry professionals, but it also helps to increase your business’s visibility. This is because the contributor is likely to share the content with their network as well, which puts your brand in front of a whole new audience and gives you the opportunity to increase your followers and engagement rates.

6. Use the Google+ Page Badge

Just as you display social sharing buttons for Facebook and Twitter on your site, it is also important to feature the Google +1 button. This button encourages site visitors to publicly recommend your content and share it with their Google+ circles. And the more +1’s you obtain, the more authority you gain, as it shows Google that you are a trusted source of information.

7. Take Advantage of Authorship

If your brand is publishing content, make sure to link that content to the authors' Google+ profiles with Authorship. This not only gives recognition to your hard-working employees, but it also shows Google that there is an identity connected with the content, which gives the content and your brand, better credibility.

Could Google+ Play a Role in the Upcoming Penguin Update?

Michael Garrity — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:05:00 GMT

On Friday morning, Matt Cutts, the person in charge of Google’s webspam team, announced via Twitter that the search engine would be rolling out the next generation, version 2.0, of its Penguin update (originally released in April of last year).

This update will likely have considerable ramifications on the way that Google sorts and ranks pages on its search engine results pages (SERPs), as these types of overhauls entail altering the search algorithm, as opposed to just an index refresh.

Penguin 2.0

The first Penguin update focused on black hat SEO and links/link quality, as part of the company’s apparent desire to keep "spammy" sites stuffed with low-quality links from reaching the upper echelons of the SERPs (or even the first couple of pages, for that matter). It’s been tweaked a few times since then, with the first refresh (Penguin 1.1, if you will) simply cleaning up and implementing the algorithm update in the way it indexes pages, and the second refresh adding the Disavow Links Tool, which puts the onus of identifying and removing bad links on the webmasters.

But this new update promises to be much more significant and should resonate more with all websites and webmasters. In a video released yesterday (see the bottom of this post), Cutts said that the upcoming Penguin update, which is expected in “a few weeks,” will likely go deeper and have more of an impact than Penguin 1.0, but didn’t really elaborate beyond that. He also explains that Google is looking to give special ranking "boosts" to sites that are authorities in a specific industry, community or space, meaning it will return those sites above loess authoritiative sites in related queries. He doesn't define how they will determine that authority, however.

Naturally, this has led many Web pros to wonder just what this new update will entail, and how it may affect their own performance in the SERPs. For now, all we can do is speculate.

What about Google+?

One likely scenario involves Google’s silently growing social network, Google+, which passed Twitter in Dec. 2012 to become the second largest online social network in terms of active monthly users (according to a Global Web Index study). Whereas Google started out by aggressively (over) marketing G+ when it first went live, the company has slowly backed off in favor of quietly integrating the social network with its myriad other products.

It wouldn’t be at all surprising, then, to see Google trying to incorporate G+ more intricately into its search engine, as well. And since the original Penguin was largely about links and link quality, one might expect Penguin 2.0 to put a special emphasis on links appearing on the social network. That is, content that gets linked to on or from Google+ will be weighted more heavily, or at least with more credibility, than if it were just a link on a random website or blog.

In other words, Google could end up viewing links that also appear somewhere on Google+ as being of a generally higher quality than others, so it may end up giving them a boost in the SERPs. And if that’s the case, it wouldn’t be surprising if Google Search also paid attention to the activity around links on Google+ (e.g. shares, +1s, etc.) in order to better determine just how “quality” they may actually be.

Should this end up being the case, it would mean that brands and content publishers, especially, will want to become more active on Google+, sharing links on the social network in order to give them more authority or credibility in the SERPs, especially if they expect these links to appear on other websites or blogs.

Of course, this is all just speculation, and Google is being, and will continue to be, quiet on the subject until the release of the new update, as it always is. I’m just saying, it would be an interesting way for the company to quietly nudge people toward using Google+ more often, although the downside would be the creation of an increasingly insular, exclusive “Google Universe” that may alienate Web professionals and users even more than it already has.

Five Mother’s Day Social Strategies

Allison Howen — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:00:00 GMT

Sunday is Mother’s Day, which not only means that you still have time to pick up gifts for the most important ladies in your life, but also that brands have put their Mother’s Day marketing campaigns into full force across all social networks.

In fact, every holiday, event and change of season provides marketers with a timely promotional angle. And naturally, all brands take a different approach in their holiday-related campaigns. For example, a retailer typically promotes products as gift ideas, while content publishers create relevant content or contests to increase engagement. Yet, the best and most complete strategies combine multiple techniques in order to cater to every fan and followers’ preferences.

Website Magazine located five stellar Mother's Day social examples to offer inspiration for this holiday and future ones, too. Remember, Father’s Day is just around the corner…

Goal: Get People Talking

Brand: Seventh Generation

Social Network: Facebook

Strategy: Seventh Generation took to Facebook to ask a feel-good question and remind us how important moms are in our lives. The company’s use of an image to assist in asking the question “What is the best advice your mom has ever given you?” certainly grabs fans’ attention better than a text-based post and most likely leads to better engagement rates. Additionally, these fan interactions help Seventh Generation foster better relationships with its customers, as well as helps to increase brand awareness.

Goal: Generate Conversions

Brand: Sephora

Social Network: Pinterest

Strategy: Retailers and Pinterest go together like peanut butter and jelly, as this social network has proven to drive valuable traffic to e-commerce websites. Beauty company Sephora is taking advantage of this influential social network by creating an entire board devoted to Mother’s Day gift ideas. Not only do these featured items take visitors directly to product pages on Sephora's website when clicked on, but many of the images also include the hashtag, #mothersday, in order to increase the product's and Sephora's visibility on the pin boarding social network.

Goal: Boost Follower Numbers

Brand: ExtraTV

Social Network: Twitter

Strategy: Giveaways and contests are always a good tactic for increasing your social following, so why not combine these promotions with a timely event? Not only does this strategy from ExtraTV help the brand obtain more followers, but since the company asks for retweets, it also increases their visibility. Plus, this strategy will ultimately leave the two winning followers very happy.

We're giving away 2 @bfflco gift bags for #MothersDay! Follow @extratv & RT this message for your chance to win! bit.ly/MDWin
— ExtraTV (@extratv) May 7, 2013

Goal: Increase Brand Awareness

Brand: Google

Social Network: Google+

Strategy: Another feel-good strategy comes from Google, who has chosen to use Sunday’s holiday as a way to shamelessly promote its very own social network. That said, this video is very relatable (almost a tear-jerker), and truly shows how technology can be used to connect with the most important people in your life.

Goal: Improve Visibility and Engagement

Brand: Beats By Dre

Social Network: Twitter

Strategy: Advertisements are always a good way to increase your brand’s visibility, but Beats By Dre takes this strategy a step further by using an interactive and timely Promoted Tweet to reach new audience members. In fact, once someone clicks on the link to make a #Pillconfession (Pill is the name of one the company’s wireless speakers), they are directed to the company’s website where they can explore products and interact with the #Pillconfession campaign by posting a Mother’s Day confession either on Twitter or Facebook. Additionally, visitors can view the confessions of other consumers at the bottom of the webpage, which features an interactive collage of tweets and posts.

Got a #pillconfession? Make yours on beats.is/PillConfessTW. Apologies to moms everywhere! twitter.com/beatsbydre/sta…
— Beats By Dre (@beatsbydre) May 2, 2013

Google+ Sign-In Available at Janrain and Gigya

Allison Howen — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:15:00 GMT

Social sign-in has been a helpful feature to site owners and visitors alike – it enables visitors to log into a website with existing social profiles, while also increasing engagement levels and enabling site owners to gather valuable information from their site’s new members.

In fact, many developers already use platforms like Janrain and Gigya to implement social sign-in for networks like Facebook and Twitter on their site, and now, both Janrain and Gigya are adding Google+ sign-in to their product suites.

"Google+ Sign-in is a major innovation in social login," said Patrick Salyer, CEO of Gigya. "By adding it to Gigya's Social Login, we're able to help our clients quickly implement the technology so that their users can seamlessly discover and download mobile content and apps and engage with brands across devices."

This update allows clients of Janrain and Gigya to not only add a new trusted authentication to their apps and sites, but also offers a feature that promotes mobile application discovery. For example, when users log into sites via Google+, the site can prompt visitors to download related Android apps with over-the-air installs, which helps to increase content and brand engagement across devices. Moreover, consumers who sign-in with Google+ will be able to share content to Google+ through a new Interactive Posts feature.

“Consumers place a significant amount of trust in their online identity providers, which is why social login is so popular. We’re pleased to see Google trending in a positive direction,” said Larry Drebes, CEO of Janrain. “The integration of Google+ Sign-In is a significant milestone in our efforts to offer the broadest range of technology support so our customers, such as NPR, HSN and Universal Music Group, can capture key profile data that allows them to improve customer engagement and marketing.”

Business Gets Personal with Google+

Administrator — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:02:00 GMT

By Allison Rice, Amsterdam Printing

When Google+ first arrived on the social media scene in mid-2011, it didn't make much of a splash. In fact, Google made it a point of not making a big deal about its release. It was, as Google execs put it, simply an extension of Google, hence the "plus." But as users began exploring Google+ functions, they quickly realized that Google+ isn't just a compilation of a few new search features -- it's a serious and well-structured force in the social media world.

Your Own Personal Google

Google+ stands out from other social sites such as Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook for one big reason: Google search. Even before Google+ launched, Google was already personalizing search results based on past searches, language and geographical location. With the arrival of Google+, however, Google results began showing public Google+ posts and photos as well as Web listings based on your Google+ social connections and, perhaps most significantly, limited Google+ posts and photos that have been shared with you in the past.

For example, if you're searching the word "turtle" and a friend of yours shared a picture with you of their pet box turtle eating a strawberry six months ago, or a post about turtle diets, that information would probably show up on your first page of search results. Additionally, you have the option of seeing only personal results under "search tools" and anything your friends might have posted or shared on Google+, or around the Web, regarding turtles will appear.

Facebook pages also appear, but Google+ pages seem to have the dominant place. In fact, if your Google search has something to do with a known brand that's using Google+, such as Toyota, their Google+ page as well as a map of their locations closest to you will appear in the right hand search results column.

It's been a slow but steady integration with adjustments seeming to take place almost daily. In fact, Google+ is now considered the second most popular social network in the world with 343 million active users. Though this still trails far behind Facebook's 700 million active users, it's a number that many never thought Google+ would hit. It seems that this gradual integration process has worked by driving people to sign up for a Google+ account to access services such as Gmail and YouTube and then keeping them there with an ever-evolving array of useful apps.

Face to Face with Facebook

There's no war between Google+ and Facebook; at least, that's the official story. On the other hand, it seems that the two are running neck and neck to see who has the most innovative, sleekest and useful toys. The recent reformatting of Facebook alone is a testament to their unspoken battle. In March 2013, Facebook launched their new look which seems to eerily reflect the clean look and extra white space formatting of Google+. The overall structure of Facebook remains true to its original design, but on first glance, a few points of similarity seem to stand out:

• The space for posts has opened up with extra white space and larger images, as well as more prominent profile pictures, similar to Google+ formatting.

• The inclusion of icons in the side menu

• Filtering of your news feed according to relationships and interests (similar to Google+'s Circles)

Regardless of how closely they might resemble each other on the surface, both social media sites seem to know what appeals to the audience-at-large and both are fighting to stay on the cutting edge. With Google+ constantly adjusting their efforts to reach more people, what does this mean for businesses striving to stand out in their social media efforts?

Why Google+ Is Important For Your Business

Things move quickly with social media and even though it's been a quiet start for Google+, its voice is being heard in all corners of the Web. With the world's number one search engine an integral part of its operation, having a Google+ page is not only important for small businesses, it's almost necessary. Why?

• Google+ pages have a priority in Google searches and brands can appear in the coveted right hand white space of search results.

• Google+ users, and those simply using Google search, will see Google+ businesses near them listed in personalized search results.

• Apps within Google+ are making it easier and easier for businesses to track not only the reach of their social networking but the impact, down to identifying specific followers who inspire more people to visit their business pages.

• Shared posts with keywords relevant to your business are more likely to appear in your friends and followers' search results.

• Circles allows you to sort clientele from friends, acquaintances and family from the start and posts can be targeted to individual groups.

• Having a Google+ page improves your personal website optimization simply by building up internal links, such as with blog posts.

The list goes on, and so do the possibilities of Google+'s impact on social marketing. Currently more than three-quarters of the top 100 global brands have active Google+ pages and they have seen an amazing amount of growth in the past year with more than 23 million listed followers. Not only are their websites appearing in search results with the addition of a visual icon and right hand posting, but the companies are also able to communicate more easily with their followers; a major plus in the social media world. If these major corporations have found value in the Google+ service, rest assured that there are advantages for any size business in creating their own Google+ page.

What are some features you've enjoyed or disliked about Google+? Do you think Google+ or Facebook is better for your business' marketing efforts? What do you think the next step in social marketing will be?

Allison Rice is the Marketing Director for Amsterdam Printing (www.amsterdamprinting.com), a leading provider of custom and promotional pens and other promotional products to grow your business and thank customers. Allison regularly contributes to the Promo & Marketing Wall blog, where she provides actionable business tips.

Crash Course in Google Hangouts

Allison Howen — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 20:00:00 GMT

Chances are that your brand’s Google+ page doesn’t have as many followers as its Facebook or Twitter pages, but instead of neglecting this social network because of a lack of engagement from fans, you should find a way to gain more followers and interactions in order to reap the benefits from this valuable channel.

Google+ offers many features that, when leveraged properly, can help brands not only foster engagement with their customers, but also provide businesses with increased visibility in the search results. This is because Google, unsurprisingly, tends to rank Google+ content highly in the SERPs. That being said, one of Google+’s unique offerings, which can be utilized to obtain better engagement rates, is Google Hangouts.

What is a Hangout?

A Google Hangout gives Google+ users a way to participate in live video chats. Brands can leverage this feature for a variety of purposes, including to hold a private conference with up to 10 participants or to broadcast live events to a public audience.

For example, companies can use Hangouts to hold private meetings. By doing this, colleagues can collaborate over the ’Net, and even have the ability to use Hangout’s built-in productivity apps, such as Google Drive and Slideshare. That said, most companies will want to use this feature to gain Google+ followers and to foster relationships with their customers, which is best done by hosting public Hangouts.

Recently, many brands have been gaining popularity on Google+ by hosting exclusive Hangouts and publicizing the events in other channels, including more popular social networks. By doing this, companies are not only increasing their visibility and engagement rates on Google+, but they are also enticing customers, who currently don’t use Google+, to become members and follow the brand in order to take part in the event.

To gain some inspiration of how brands can leverage Hangouts, let’s check out some current tactics...

OK! Magazine – High Profile Q&As

This entertainment magazine has launched some high-profile Hangouts as of late, including one earlier this week with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ star Brandi Glanville and one today with Boy Meets World Star Danielle Fishel. Although most businesses won’t be able to use celebrities to attract attention to their Google+ page, they can implement a similar strategy by hosting Hangouts with top industry professionals.

Washington Post – Holding Debates

Editors at the Washington Post use Hangouts to foster debates about relevant public issues, just as the publication did this week by launching multiple Hangouts on the topic of gay marriage. This type of strategy not only encourages engagement between Washington Post editors and readers, but also allows participants to gain insights into each other’s point of views.

Coca-Cola – Relating to Fans

Popular beverage company Coca-Cola took a unique approach to its latest Hangout, by having a Coca-Cola super fan, who was invited to the company’s headquarters, host it. This strategy provides Coke's audience with a unique view of how regular people (in this instance a super fan) relate with the brand.

Billboard – Product Launch

Billboard teamed up with John Mayer this week for a Hangout that announced the singer’s new album and upcoming tour dates. By doing this, the singer created social buzz around his new product – his music. Companies can use this same strategy to build excitement for up-and-coming or highly anticipated product launches.

The Web Pro's Guide to Authorship Markup

Michael Garrity — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:55:00 GMT

Web professionals immediately embraced Google authorship markup, despite kind of being a tricky way to convince people to join Google+, when it was unveiled in 2011.

In case you’re still (somehow) unfamiliar with authorship markup, just know that it is a Google-specific microdata set that utilizes the rel=author tag to enhance tagged Web pages when they appear in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). To the casual user, these markups can be identified by the little author portraits that appear next to certain Web pages on Google Search and link to the author’s Google+ page. You can learn more about how to implement a rel=author tag in “The Difference Between rel=author & rel=publisher.”

It makes sense that Internet professionals would want to take advantage of these tags as much as possible, because markup doesn’t really require any additional work once it’s been implemented, but it can provide an incredible boost when it comes to driving search traffic.

--> Read the Web Pro's Guide to Authorship Markup Now

The Difference Between rel=author & rel=publisher

Michael Garrity — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:30:00 GMT

Google conveniently features two distinctly different tags that can be added to a Web page’s HTML to promote the individuals that authored a piece of content or an entire brand.

These are the two new tags known as rel=author and rel=publisher, that will automatically link an article or website back to a corresponding Google+ profile from within the search engine results pages (SERPs). This provides those listings with greater authority (as they’ve essentially been vouched for by Google) and helps them stand out among the other results on the page.

In other words, both of these tags can be very useful for search engine optimization (SEO) and Internet marketing, as long as you know the difference between them.

rel=author

You know those little author pictures that appear next to some of the blog posts and other content that you come across on Google’s SERPs? They’re the result of a rel=author tag that has been attached to that page.

These tags are meant to help promote individuals alongside each unique article by tying their work to their personal Google+ profiles. Of course, the tags do more than just make articles stand out on the SERPs (although that certainly helps); they also provide more credibility to a listing and garner significantly more exposure for the writer, as they also provide a “More by” link that collects other content that the writer has published and added the rel=author tag to.

Linking an article to a Google+ profile is a simple two-step process. The first is to add a link from the site or Web page with the content to your G+ profile by adding this tag into the HTML:

<a href=”profile_url?rel=author”>EXAMPLE TEXT</a>

Obviously, you’ll want to replace profile_url with the URL for your Google+ profile. After that, you need to link to your content from your profile, which can be done by signing into Google+, clicking on “Edit profile” and adding a custom link to the Contributor To section toward the bottom of your profile page. However, you must be sure to link your rel=author tag to an author page that is on the same website as your content.

rel=publisher

The rel=publisher tag has a much broader focus. It will tie a Google+ business page to an entire website, as opposed to claiming just a single article like the rel=author tag. And while the author tag will show a writer’s picture in the search results for a particular article, the publisher tag shows a Google+ page summary in search results for that particular brand.

In doing this, Google is recognizing a brand’s G+ page as its “official” profile, which it will give preference to in the SERPs. It also means they’ll be eligible for Google Direct Connect and aggregates all of the brand’s +1s across their site, G+ page, search results and AdWords ads.

Basically, the rel=publisher tag is Google’s way of providing an incentive to get brands to sign up for Google+ profiles. Right now, however, the capabilities of the tag are pretty limited (just ask any SEO or marketer), largely because it isn’t triggered until someone searches for only a brand’s name without any additional words in their query. That being said, the very existence of the tag is enough to assume that Google will be coming up with new ways to feature it on its search results in the future, meaning implementing it will eventually show greater benefits for marketers.

To manually use the tag, simply add it to the head of your site in the HTML and include the URL of your business’s Google+ page. It should look like this:

<link href=”profile_url” rel=”publisher”/>

Once you’ve done that, you need to go through the verification process. As with the rel=author tag, you just go to your Google+ page and click “Edit profile,” then add the URL to your brand’s website in the Website section to create a reciprocal link between the two sites.

4 Ways to Go Local on Google+

Allison Howen — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 20:30:00 GMT

While Google+ is not the most popular site on the 'Net, when it comes to social networks, it is certainly one of the most important.

This is especially true for local businesses, because maintaining a profile on Google+ not only helps brands connect with customers, but also makes a brand more visible in the search results. In fact, in May, the search engine giant integrated Google Places into Google+, which allows consumers to find, share and review local businesses on the social network. However, in order to get the best ROI from your Google+ profile, you must first optimize it with a local state of mind.

1. Optimize the About Section

It is vital for Page managers to optimize the About section of Google+ Pages, because this is not only where important information is displayed, including business descriptions, hours of operation and contact information, but it also provides Google with specific information about your business. That being said, it is important to note that Google launched some new updates to the Local Business/Place Pages in Google+ this week, including an update that allows businesses to once again add categories to their Pages. By maintaining a correct address and category information, businesses will be much more likely to show up in the location-based search results on the Web, as well as the search results that appear when someone uses Google+’s “Local” tab to search for specific types of businesses near a specific location.

2. Strive for Good Ratings and Reviews

Most consumers take reviews and ratings into strong consideration when making a purchasing decision, which is why it is important for local businesses to not only leave a good impression on their customers, but also encourage positive consumer feedback. And with the integration of Google Places into Google+, this is more important than ever. This is because Google now prominently displays the Zagat ratings and reviews for businesses both on Google+ and in the search engine’s result pages. In fact, when searching for businesses through the Local tab on Google+, users can even filter the results based on top reviewers or by reviews from people in their circles. This means that consumers who search for your business on the ’Net are also most likely reading a few reviews about your company, whether they want to or not, because the reviews are readily available. That being the case, a multitude of reviews can help businesses not only benefit in the search results, but can also help encourage conversions.

3. Start a Community

Google+ announced the availability of Communities at the end of 2012, which allows Google+ users to create social groups based on specific topic or interests. The best way that local businesses can take advantage of this feature is by creating a public Community to help them foster relationships with current and potential customers. In fact, brands can even further connect with their customers by creating Community Events or by participating in Hangout video chats within their Community members. Furthermore, chances are that content from public Google+ Communities could eventually make their way to the search results, especially since we all know how much Google likes to interconnect its services.

4. Participate in Google Offers

Although daily deals aren’t nearly as popular as they were a couple of years ago, it is safe to say that consumers still love a good deal – when they see it. This is why it is a good strategy for local businesses to launch a daily deal through the Google Offers platform. Not only does Google promote the offer through email and mobile apps, but the offers also show up in Google+'s Local tab search results (remember how we said Google likes to interconnect its services?).

Stay Tuned

It is safe to say that Google has more updates and tools in store that will make it easier for local businesses to reach and connect with consumers in the future. In fact, Google’s Places for Business website states that the company will be making a lot of changes over the next few months to improve the local listings experience and bring the community, identity, sharing and relationships of Google+ to local businesses. The best way for local businesses to prepare for the updates is to optimize their current profiles and continue to engage their customers.

Profile Inspirations for the Big 4 Social Networks

Allison Howen — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 19:55:00 GMT

In today’s digital age, it is important for every business to broaden its audience reach by maintaining a presence on four of the ’Net’s most popular social networks – Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

However, posting engaging content and interacting with fans is just one part of the equation when it comes to maintaining a successful social presence, with the other part of the equation being design. In fact, often times, brands focus solely on posting a variety of content to social networks and forget about optimizing the real estate on their profile altogether.

Luckily, Website Magazine has found some of the best examples of social profiles on the Web to help provide some inspiration for future profile-redesign projects. Check them out below:

Facebook

There is a large amount of space to work with on Facebook Pages, most notably, the 851 x 315 px cover photo that is featured at the top of every profile. Although most brands have a Facebook presence, few utilize the social network’s design aspects quite like the brands below.

Kit Kat
This sweet company takes fan engagement to a whole new level by prominently featuring fans on its cover photo.

Priceline
This travel company has streamlined its marketing initiatives by using its Facebook cover photo to promote its ongoing “Priceline Negotiator” campaign. Moreover, the image features a specific hashtag so that fans can take their conversations from Facebook to Twitter without missing a beat.

Method
Method maintains a clean design by featuring and identifying its line of products on a white background in the company’s cover photo.

Twitter

Designing a Twitter profile can be tricky, because this micro-blogging social network displays profile pictures directly in the middle of the 520 x 260 px header images. As if creating a design that works with two images wasn’t hard enough, Twitter profiles also leave room for background images, which can appear differently on computer screens depending on resolution. However, the trick is to make all these elements come together into one large design.

Beggin’ Strips
Purina’s Twitter account for the delectable doggie treat, Beggin’ Strips, uses strategic placement to make its profile picture and header image appear as one design.

IKEA USA
While IKEA USA’s Twitter header and background image flow together nicely, the company keeps its branding initiatives strong by featuring the company’s icon as its profile picture.

CoreCommerce
CoreCommerce does a really good job at maintaining a simple profile design on Twitter that still attracts attention with the use of bright colors. Additionally, the company uses its background design to let prospective clients know exactly what type of services they can expect from the CoreCommerce platform.

Google+

Although Google+ hasn’t taken off in the way that social sites like Facebook and Twitter did, it is still vital for companies to maintain a profile on this network – to boost their SEO initiatives, if for nothing else. The main design elements to focus on when optimizing a Google+ profile include the large 250 x 250 px profile picture and the even larger cover photo, which measures 890 x 180 px.

San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo has an unfair advantage when it comes to design, because its entire business is built on animals, and who doesn’t like looking at pictures of animals? That being said, the zoo still took some time to create a cover photo and profile image that feature a variety of the zoo’s inhabitants – mammals, birds and amphibians.

Instagram
For proof that simple is sometimes better, look no further than Instagram’s Google+ profile design.

Silverpop
This cover photo has been leveraged to visually feature the types of services that Silverpop offers.

Brands attract a whole different type of audience on LinkedIn, which is a good thing. However, optimizing the design on LinkedIn Company Pages can be a bit of challenge because brands want to attract attention yet stay professional at the same time, all with a limited amount of customizable space. That being said, the focus for these pages should be the 646 x 220 px main cover photo, because this is the first thing people see when arriving at a Company Page.

Nokia
Nokia uses its cover photo for featuring a variety of its products on a simple background.

General Motors
This automobile company optimized its cover photo specifically for LinkedIn by keeping the focus on people.

HootSuite
Just like Nokia, HootSuite does a solid job of featuring the type of services it offers without being too flashy or over-promotional.

Social Media for Home-Based Businesses

Administrator — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:15:00 GMT

When running a home-based business, the pressure of completing vital daily actions, in addition to time constraints, means social media strategy may not be your highest priority. But to outreach to an extensive customer base, build your online authority and gain a valuable platform for real-time customer service, it should be.

All social networks are not created equal, however. Brand social media is not a tool exclusive to large organizations, and for home businesses especially, can be crucially beneficial and should play an active role in daily business. Choosing a social channel for business depends on a number of variables, so before selecting one (or jumping straight into all networks) consider:

• What the home business is

• Who the target market is and which channel they are most likely to be active and responsive on

• The nature of the products and services sold

Considering what you want your social strategy to achieve can also help with your decision. For example, if you want to build yourself up as an industry leader, network, or promote your company and yourself through industry based discussion, then LinkedIn may be the most suitable network. But if you're likely to post numerous, frequent news, product and offer updates, and want to target and interact with potential clients more directly, using Facebook or Twitter may be a better route to take.

Of course there's nothing to stop you from using both! If you can meet the time requirements to maintain a dedicated and active presence across numerous social media channels, you'll be presenting a more varied, accessible and authoritative business profile. Just note that you don't have to join all networks at once, and be wary of the dangers and damaging effects which incomplete and sloppy social profiling can have.

Key social networks you may consider choosing include:

LinkedIn

LinkedIn acts as a virtual CV, networking and job-hunting tool, and for that reason works well as a B2B social network. Giving you the social status to network as a business figurehead, creating a LinkedIn company page can inform LinkedIn users of your home business, as well as your personal attributes and will showcase your services and company updates. Networking to contact key industry individuals and participation in regular discussion groups can establish your authority as a thought leader within your industry or area of business. It can also allow you as a business owner to advance, network, and raise your professional profile.

Depending upon your business or service offering (this may work well for freelance services for example), LinkedIn can also be an excellent way to source clients.

Twitter

For most organizations, Twitter is the go-to network. With users expectant and tolerant of much more frequent posting (some more brand active profiles post upward of 10 tweets a day), news, links relevant to your industry, retweets and other shared content can boost your profile. Plus, by taking advantage of Twitter features, such as hashtags, your tweets can be easily found in searches and your presence raised. Allowing you to present an accessible front, promote new product and converse with your client base, Twitter lets you directly access a much wider potential customer base, and can be a great way to gather feedback. Have an active follow and interaction strategy to boost and interact with followers and spread the name of your business.

Regarding the time restraints of being commercially active on Twitter, tweets can be scheduled, searched for and ordered using management applications, such as HootSuite or TweetDeck - meaning all daily social activity can be done at once.

Pinterest & Instagram

For businesses that offer a visually appealing product, having a Pinterest or Instagram account can be incredibly beneficial. Whilst Instagram works well in conjunction with Twitter (owing to its use of hashtags allowing users to locate images) and can be a way to encourage customers to create social content/ their own images related to your brand product, Pinterest works more as a virtual pinboard. Allowing users to 'repin' images of your product (once you have a developed profile), if your product can be aesthetically endorsed, both networks could work very well to an advantage.

Facebook

This is an excellent tool for home businesses with small audiences who wish to get to know their audience and fans. You can use your page insights to see what sort of content garners the best responses. Facebook is ideal for sharing and is more directly personal than Twitter, so knowing what content (images, links, competitions, etc.) your Facebook followers respond best to, can work to a business advantage in that you can encourage those followers to share your brand content to their own friends and followers as well. As a great place to share news, offers and promotions, Facebook works well for businesses with a wider consumer base, such as fashion or food, and offers a simple approach to customer service (comments and interaction).

Google +

Though less popular than the other networks, a Google + presence can be just as important. More relaxed when it comes to self-promotion, Google + allows for status and content sharing as with Facebook and LinkedIn, but importantly, as a Google owned service, means it is linked with all of Google's other products. An active account can provide additional SEO benefit: especially useful for smaller, location-dependent businesses.

Once you've decided which network to use:

Any social network can encourage customers to move from your social profile to your business site, and once you've decided which network(s) to be active on, you should consider some form of basic strategy to build a following - this can be as basic as deciding to use HootSuite to schedule in a certain number of tweets a day and replying to any customer feedback (good or bad), to forming a more comprehensive approach such as following targeted users and ensuring you mix your content between status updates, links, images etc.

The approach you take toward social media will vary depending on the time you have to invest in it, but making this investment can really help launch the profile of a whole business, especially if targeting a local market. You should make it easy for people to access your social networks, connect, share and promote you.

About the Author: Alastair Kane is a freelance writer working for 2touch, a leading provider of fulfillment services helping businesses keep their customers happy.

Google+ Communities for Merchants

Allison Howen — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 20:30:00 GMT

Merchants tend to put the majority of their social resources into sites like Facebook or Twitter, but it might be time to shift some of that social focus to Google+.

This is because having a profile on Google’s emerging social network makes a brand more visible in the search results. In fact, a study from digital marketing and analytics provider Fathom reveals that only 24 percent of the brands on Millward Brown's 2012 BrandZ list actually triggered a Knowledge Graph entry when searched for on Google, and the information for 92 percent of those entries came directly from Google+.

Furthermore, Google+ has been gaining momentum with the public and now has 135 million active users according to a recent blog post from the company. This influx of users could be the result of Google+'s interactive features and tools that make it easier for brands to connect with people across the Web, such as the new Google+ Communities.

What is Google+ Communities?

Google+ Communities allow Google+ users to create social groups based on specific topics or interests, such as sports, photography or fashion. The Communities can be customized to be public or private, which means that users can create Communities that span across broad categories like cooking to narrow topics like local neighborhoods.

Although some might compare Google+ Communities to Facebook Groups, Google’s platform actually appears to have the advantage. This is because Community members can connect with each other by launching or participating in Hangout video chats or by scheduling Community events. Moreover, members have the ability to share content directly with Communities via the +1 button.

Who should leverage Communities?

While any type of Web worker can create a Community, merchants might be the biggest beneficiaries of this new feature. Chances are that the content from Google+ Communities may eventually make its way to the search results, especially since Google has been working hard to interconnect all of its services and Google+ already has a big impact on the SERPs. Additionally, fostering a community around a brand can help merchants establish authority in their niche, build better relationships with customers and acquire more brand advocates.

For example, a pet store retailer can create a Community for local pet owners. Within this Community, members will be able to upload images of their kittens, schedule puppy play dates or participate in a Hangout video-chat for puppy training tips. Conversely, a clothing retailer’s Community might include consumer-generated photos and videos that feature customers' favorite outfits, event information for the brand’s next fashion show or a fashionista Hangout for members to discuss hot up-and-coming trends.

It is also important to note that even though Google+ Communities officially launched last week, only a handful of brands have taken advantage of this feature. This means that merchants can stay a step ahead of their competition by leveraging this Google+ feature. But before you create your first Community, take some time to get inspired by the examples below:

Audi USA

This automobile Community already has more than 3,000 members and features six different types of discussions. So far members have leveraged this group to post pictures of their cars and ask questions to other Audi owners.

Call of Duty

The Call of Duty Community has more than 1,200 members and features three different types of discussions. It is a good place for gamers to connect with each other away from the television screen, as well as ask questions about the game or give out tips for success.

Yarn Mountain

The Knitting Lodge Community was launched by Yarn Mountain as a place where crafters can connect with people who have similar interests. The Community features 13 different discussion topics, and an event was already launched for Community members.

Viralheat Offers Google+ Pages Management

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Do you know what every single professional user and brand on Google+ has been asking since the network's launch? It's this: why can't I use my third party social media management and monitoring application/platform to post to Google+?

Google opted not to publish an API for its Google+ service at launch (although it did release a partial-access API in September of 2011), leaving many of those responsible for social media to actually post new items and participate on the network directly - gasp! But that is slowly changing. Social media analytics and intelligence platform ViralHeat announced that it now supports Google+ Page managment - one of the first social media management solution to make that capability available (several companies including Buddy Media, HootSuite, Vitrue, Hearsay Social, and a few others already offer the same functionality).

Viralheat users are now able to manage their Google+Pages from the ViralHeat dashboard, updating and commenting on their status or posts within their circles. Posted comments can also be edited and deleted. Viralheat's publishing sutie, which provides monitoring and analytics for Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, video and the real-time Web, also offers scheduled publishing, rich media integration, URL shortening, post preview and publishing history. Google+ Page management comes standard with free and paid plans, which start at $49 per month.

“With Viralheat’s Google+ Page management, I can now connect and juggle all of the social networks I regularly post to,” said Viralheat user Eileen Bernardo. “It’s really convenient to have access to all my accounts in one place.”

The Ripple Effect: Track Trends & Find Friends on Google+

Michael Garrity — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:53:00 GMT

Google+ has had its fair share of problems differentiating itself from other, more established social networks, and because of this, it hasn’t exactly skyrocketed in popularity. However, it turns out that by ignoring Google+, marketers are actually missing a great opportunity to find out what content is most likely to trend and how that happens, as well as identify the biggest influencers in their niche.

This ability is presented by a rarely discussed (and probably even less utilized) feature known as Google+ Ripples, an interactive graphic visualization attached to content or a URL posted on G+ that charts the series of a events that take place after it’s shared (in other words, it shows the post’s viral ripple effect – get it?). The chart follows the post from person-to-person, displaying all of the shares and illustrating who shared it and where they found it.

What makes Google+ Ripples neat is its visually appealing, zoomable and interactive interface that lets users quickly scan and study the life cycle of a viral post. By hitting the “Play” button at the bottom of a Ripples page, users can see an animated version of the same graph and watch the post get shared from the time it was first posted to the present, which lets them see the scale and speed of how it spread.

Every public post on Google+ that has been shared will feature its own Ripples page, which can be accessed by simply clicking on the arrow in the top right of a post box to bring out the drop-down menu. From here, you can just click “View Ripples” and it will open a new page with the visualization of the post’s share history.

Benefits for Marketers

This sounds interesting and all, but what’s the real benefit of actually bothering with this feature?

Well actually, there are two. See, Google+ Ripples is a quick and easy way to spot what type of content in your niche is most likely to foster engagement, and who the most influential people are in terms of getting it seen (and shared) by the most users. Basically, it presents a visual representation of the life cycle of content in your niche, and the people who interact with it.

While simply looking at the number of shares can give marketers an idea of what topics or types of content are most popular within their niche, Ripples can help them visualize how quickly and among what type of users it is shared. What they may find is that some posts spread fast, but die down after a few hours, while others take off more slowly and thrive a lot longer. Or, they could discover that some topics are more shared among business professionals, while others are all the rage with consumers. All of this information can give marketers a better idea of what kinds of content to post (both on Google+ and other places that they reach their niche audience) and who to target with that content.

But the real beauty of Ripples is that it shows which users were most influential in helping to spread it across the social network. Those users who shared the content from the original poster, and then saw a lot of other users share the content from them, are more than likely going to be important, major players in that niche. And Ripples not only helps to identify these folk, but also provides users with an easy way to automatically connect with them. Marketers can use this information to network and get their name on the radar of these key people in their industry.

Who knows? If you impress them enough, they may even start sharing your content. So the next time you’re on Google+, it might be worth it to check out Ripples.