Rebecca Wardlow is a local Google+ ambassador, social media speaker, and consultant who teaches social media courses. She provides tips on using Google+ for businesses, including creating a Google+ page and merging it with a local business page to gain reviews and visibility. She also discusses using Google+ communities, hangouts, and other features to engage customers and promote businesses.
2. +Rebecca Wardlow
Who Is Rebecca?
Local Google+
Ambassador
Social Media Speaker,
Trainer & Consultant
Teach social media
courses for Kishwaukee
College Continuing
Education
Web Design &
Development
eCommerce Project
Manager
Google+ eBook
(www.RebeccaWardlow.com)
Proud mom of 5 kids
3. +Rebecca Wardlow
Why Google+?
“Google+ adds another layer by making it relevant
for users and it allows brands to engage with more
personal results when consumers are searching for
them.”
~ Carolyn Johnson, Senior Media Solutions Lead at
Google Inc.
5. +Rebecca Wardlow
Share Your Message - Online
People are passionate
about travel and love to
share their experiences.
They will engage with
great content and
captivating photos/video.
Cross-promote with other
social platforms (Yelp &
TripAdvisor)
Engage with audience
Add G+ badge to website
Promote G+ in emails
2 great examples:
https://plus.google.com/
+greece/posts
https://plus.google.com/
+laterooms/posts
6. +Rebecca Wardlow
Share Your Message - Offline
Attend local networking
events
Host a local meet-up or
event
Sign up for your
customer’s newsletters,
blogs
Follow customers
Facebook and Google+
business pages
Send handwritten thank
you’s
Attend conferences &
happy hours
Invite individuals over for
a coffee break
Add your social networks
to print materials
7. +Rebecca Wardlow
Tips for Posting & Optimization
Before you begin:
Think about your brand
Set goals
Know your customer
Mark your calendar
Optimize Your Content
Add links throughout your
page
About Page & Posts
What to post?
Images & Videos
Host Hangouts on Air
Share exclusive deals
Behind-the-scenes tour
8. +Rebecca Wardlow
Circle Organization
Find Interesting people
and Organize them into
Circles
Use Circles in 2 ways
Share posts with specific
groups
Read posts from specific
groups
9. +Rebecca Wardlow
Circles for Business
Create circles that highlight
specific categories:
Other venues in your city
Local chambers of
commerce
Restaurants
Attractions
Popular Travel Magazines
College Parents
Events
What’s the benefit?
Show support for other
businesses
Helps spread the word
about your business page
Shows that you are active
Great examples:
https://plus.google.com/u/
0/+baronacasino/posts
https://plus.google.com/u/
0/+roosevelthotelnewyork/
posts
11. +Rebecca Wardlow
Four Types of Communities
The four types of Google+ community groups
you can create are:
Public group that anyone can join and post.
Public group where only moderators can
post, but anyone can view or comment.
Private group (members only) that can be
discovered by search.
Private group (members only) hidden from
search.
13. +Rebecca Wardlow
Google+ Hangout
Replaced Google Talk
Right-hand side
Add person to chat
Similar to iMessage
Up to 11 people in text
chat
Instantly add video chat
Screen Share ability
Share YouTube videos
Google Drive App in
Hangout
5GB on free space
Share document and all
can work on it together
Team collaboration
Create Excel document
inside Google Drive, then
share inside G+ Hangout
Changes saved instantly
Remote Assistance
(Google Remote Desktop)
– only works in Chrome
14. +Rebecca Wardlow
Google+ Hangouts on Air
Hangouts on Air
Create your own show
online
Video training
Customer Service
Lower-third
New WordPress plug-in
HangoutPlugIn.com
Live Broadcast
Stream your hangout
publicly on Google+, your
YouTube channel, and
your website.
Save instantly to YouTube
Share to the World
http://youtu.be/3pmSWh
2BQco
15. +Rebecca Wardlow
YouTube & Hangout Ideas
YouTube One Channel
Trailers – plays only when
non-subscribers land on
your channel
Shelves – organizes
videos and playlists for
visitors.
Google Identities for
YouTube. Merges
YouTube & Google+ Page
Hangout On Air Ideas
Engage potential guests
in real-time
Local places or things to
see during the guest visit
Showcase Amenities
Our Hotel
Explore Our Destination
Travel Tips
How to Merge YouTube & Google Page
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2897336?hl=en&ref_topic=3097177
17. +Rebecca Wardlow
Webmaster Tools
Google's Webmaster Tools are
essential for any strong SEO effort
What's getting indexed, what's getting
linked, and what's getting traffic.
Shows your traffic potential via
impressions and site ranking across
Google search results
“Search queries” tab tells you how you
are ranking for keywords.
Author Stats - Allows you to tie in
guest posts on other sites by
connecting it to your Google + author
account.
19. +Rebecca Wardlow
Google Hotel Finder
Let’s users select the
hotel they are interested
in quickly
Uses detailed search,
maps, live hotel rates and
availability
To get listed you must work
with a Hotel Price Ads
partner or Integration
Partner:
• Booking.com,
Expedia.com,
Priceline.com or
Hotels.com
• http://www.hebsdigital.c
om/
21. +Rebecca Wardlow
Google Local Business Page
Also known as Google
Places
Intended for “brick &
mortar”
Created automatically by
Google, so your hotel
probably has one
Converted to the look &
feel of Google+ Pages
Lacks some of the
interactive features of G+
pages
Local pages include:
Business description
Contact details
Location
Photos
Reviews & Ratings
22. +Rebecca Wardlow
Google+ Page
Offer interactive features:
Build followers
Share & comment on
posts
Engage with users &
other businesses
Important Note:
Users cannot see reviews
or ratings or review a
hotel from a Google+
page UNLESS it has been
merged with the hotel’s
Local Business Page.
If you’re a hotel, choose the “Local Business or
Place” category. If you’re a hotel group or brand,
choose the “Product or Brand” category
24. +Rebecca Wardlow
Why Merge? Local to Google+ Page
Once your pages are merged:
Links in Search, Maps and Google+ will lead to
this your Google+ Business Page
Contact info, reviews, images, posts and even
rates and availability through Hotel Price Ads
Followers can interact socially with your hotel.
Merged Google+ Local pages are identifiable by
a verified checkmark below the four tabs at the
top of the page—About, Posts, Photos and
Videos.
25. +Rebecca Wardlow
How to Merge Local to Google+ Page
After you’ve created your business page, follow
these steps to request a Personal Identification
Number (PIN) to verify your page
Go to Dashboard > click Manage this page
Click Verify your business beneath your
address.
Check that the contact information is correct.
Click Request postcard. Once your postcard
arrives, you can verify your Google+ page by
entering your PIN online.
26. +Rebecca Wardlow
Group vs Local Business
We are a hotel group, with one Google+ page
for our brand and 20 Local Business pages, one
for each hotel. How can we merge them?
You can only merge a Google+ page with a Local
Business page if the Google+ page is set as a
“Local Business or Place.” A hotel group doesn’t
qualify as a local business, you cannot merge
the pages.
If a brand has multiple properties create an
umbrella page rather than creating lots of
different Google+ pages.
27. +Rebecca Wardlow
Integrating Google+ With Website
Increase traffic to your
Web site with Google+
Google+ Website buttons,
links, badges, snippets
https://developers.google
.com/+/plugins/share/
Google+ Comments plug-
in for Blogger and
WordPress
28. +Rebecca Wardlow
Why Are Google Reviews Important
Reviews show
prominently in Search,
Maps, Local, Google+,
Hotel Finder and the new
Carousel—and on
desktops, mobile search
and mobile applications
Don’t forget the “+1”
button, a way for Google+
users to endorse a
business, web page,
photo or post.
29. +Rebecca Wardlow
How To Increase The # Of Reviews
Ask guests
Give out a business card
Display signage
Ddd a link on your
website and Facebook
page
Send a post-stay email
Create an active Google+
page presence
You will be able to
interact with Google
users who are more likely
to write reviews
30. +Rebecca Wardlow
Can You Respond To Reviews?
Once you have claimed
and verified your Google+
Local page, you can
respond to reviews
directly from page or
from your merged
Google+ page.
Google Alerts will help
you track new reviews,
but it won’t catch
everything.
Google Trends - Explore
trending search topics
with Google Hot
Searches.
Responding is an opportunity to clear up
misperceptions, to thank advocates, and to
show that you’re listening
33. +Rebecca Wardlow
Business Page Vanity URL
http://gplus.to
Create a vanity URL for personal profile,
business page and communities
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113188089223727390684/posts
becomes
http://gplus.to/rwardlow7
34. +Rebecca Wardlow
Survey
Your feedback is valuable! Please help us improve
our presentations and offerings. We appreciate
you taking the time to take this brief survey.
http://bit.ly/14epEGI
35. +Rebecca Wardlow
Questions & Answers
CONNECT WITH REBECCA on
other social media platforms...
• Website
www.RebeccaWardlow.com
• Google+ http://gplus.to/rwar
dlow7
• Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/rwar
dlow7
• Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/G
etSocialSolutions
• Pinterest http://pinterest.co
m/SocialSolutions
rwardlow@rebeccawardlow.com
Editor's Notes
Google’s core mission “to make the world’s information more accessible and more relevant.
Social search results show reviews or plus 1’s for a hotel chain or brand when family or friends are connected via Google+. Your connections endorsement for a brand or hotel will come up higher in search results.Brand search results on right-hand side
What makes your business unique and what do you want to convey to your customers and followersWhat are your goals? Find new customers, build your brand & relationships with current customers, promote events and special offersKnow your customer – What gets them excited? What will keep them engaged? Post images & videos, host Hangouts On Air, share exMark your calendar – decide how often and what type of content you want to post each day. Plan it out and write it down.
Start by creating your Google+ Circles, such as “Family”, “Friends” then create niche circles such as “Social Media”, “SEO”, “Blogging”
Use circles to broadcast tailored messages to specific groups
Use Hangouts to communicate directly and on a personal level with followers
You should be creating videos for your business.
Rich images, unique content that guests cannot find anywhere else
Let’s you check your site’s healthUnderstand search trafficOptimize your site for Google ranking
Google Local Pages are identifiable because they have “About” and “Photos”
At a minimum, verify your page and ensure the information is accurate, complete and optimized for search. You can do this by clicking the “Manage this page” link on your listing or by searching for your business here. Once that’s done it’s a matter of maintaining content and monitoring reviews over time.Maintain content and monitor reviews
Unlike static Local pages, Google+ pages offer interactive social features: you can build followings, share and comment on posts, and engage with users and other businesses. However, users cannot see reviews and rating or review a hotel from a Google+ page unless it has been merged with the hotel’s Local Business page. Google+ pages are identifiable by four tabs at the top of the page: About, Posts, Photos and Videos.
If you’re a hotel, choose the “Local Business or Place” category. If you’re a hotel group or brand, choose the “Product or Brand” category
Note that this feature is available for individual businesses only, not for groups or brands. Users will find everything in one place
#2 An option is to create a separate Google+ page for each hotel. #2 Users will still like to engage with the brand.#3 When it comes to Google Places, you should absolutely have a separate page for each property.
Zagat’s 30-point scoring system is being replaced by a simpler five-star rating system. All ratings will be converted in the coming months.
As with other review sites, responding is an opportunity to clear up misperceptions, to thank advocates, and to show that you’re listening
When you click the blue reviews link you’re taken to the hotel’s Google+ Local page (or, if the hotel has merged pages, its Google+ page). Click in the bottom corner and a photo carousel of local sites, businesses and attractions appears