Google + Expands to Include Business Pages

Just when you thought you were getting a handle on Social Media and managing your online reputation,
Google has gone and changed the playing field again!

Earlier this year Google decided to try again at creating a social network and launched Google+. They set this “project” up so you could sign in and then invite your friends and family to your “circle” in order to share with them things you like or found interesting. Unlike Facebook, Google+ was built from the ground up around the idea of being able to share information or products with a group of people. The “circles” can be segmented however you like and you can share different material with different circles. Thus being able to control what the people at work see versus what your close friends and family see.

The biggest difference with Google+ was this was strictly set up for individuals unlike Facebook and even Twitter, where company’s could have pages and followers. However Google has now caught up and the Google+ Business Page is now a reality, thus giving businesses one more way to claim “real estate” on the search engines. Set up similar to Facebook’s fan pages you can do many of the same things:

Share links

Share videos

Share photos

Choose to act as yourself or your business

Differences are:

No automatic posting to pages

No vanity URLs

No games to play

Multiple pages are OK

However we could see any or all of these things become reality as more updates are made and implemented moving forward.

Set up correctly these Google+ Business Pages can rank very well and allow you to have more than one return on the page for a specific search query. And not only does it allow for you to rank well for branded search space, but also increase the likelihood of that information being shared among “circles” should someone click the Google+ button. Combining social with viral! This can be a very powerful combination.

Understanding the power of implementing a social media strategy as well as online reputation management is becoming more and more critical to the success of your online marketing strategies. Getting on the band wagon early on can pay dividends down the road with respect to your online reputation.

If your company needs help in creating and implementing an online strategy Sales & Marketing Technologies can help! Contact us at 407.682.2222 or request a free social media strategy consultation online.