Google+ for Business
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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.
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Google+ for Business
- 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.
- 4. +Rebecca Wardlow Social Search Results
- 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
- 16. +Rebecca Wardlow Google Webmaster Tools http://www.google.com/webmaster/tools
- 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.
- 18. +Rebecca Wardlow Google Hotel Finder
- 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/
- 20. +Rebecca Wardlow Google Local Business Page
- 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
- 23. +Rebecca Wardlow Create a LOCAL Google+ Page
- 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
- Survey https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1FY-A7iQ7tAPneVjEUxawGkpD05BMZ4e62HWz2D3jcmk/viewform