Google + And Google Pages | Why You Need To Get Your Head Around Them Right NOW For YOUR Business!

Just this week Google Plus (also known as Google +) released Google Pages for business and as I’ve been fairly underwhelmed with Google + so far (being a very visual person I love all the pics on Facebook) I fleetingly considered ignoring them and just NOT setting any Google Pages up for Cairncross Media, Nicola Cairncross or The Business Success Factory.

You really can’t DO much with Google Pages just yet and frankly they look a bit boring and just like your Google + profile.

I mean, who really needs another social media platform, right? Facebook, Ecademy & Twitter do me just fine, apart from my own blogging, Linked In is too boring to even think about and I’m so OVER Empire Avenue. I use YouTube a lot but my profile there will never be a main hub due to the lack of being able to hook it up to Twitter for example.

Then, when checking my email and social media streams in bed on my iphone, while drinking coffee and writing my journal (now THAT’s multi-tasking!) I accidentally read a couple of articles about Google Pages highlighted and shared by people I follow – sorry, have in my “circles” – on ….. yes, you guessed it, my Google + stream.

It appears that the whole Google + and Google Pages thing has wormed it’s way into my daily routine already.

In the same way that I totally “got” Twitter back in 2006/2007 when my mentor started Tweeting from the SXSW Conference, I suddenly “got” what Google + and particularly Google Pages have the potential to do and become, and more importantly for you, the small business owner, what they have got the potential to do for YOU!

OK, at the end of this blog post there are a couple of really good articles you need to read about Google Pages, but in the meantime, here’s my….

“The Busy Business Owner’s Guide To Why YOU Need To Get Your Head Around Google + And Google Pages Right NOW”

A growing number of people have Gmail, so that they can access their email on the go, or via their Smartphone, which means that, to check their email, they have to login to their Google Account.

If they are anything like me, you then leave your Gmail and your Google Calendar open in browser tabs 1&2, while Facebook is Tab 3, while you go about your online business. I’ve actually got mine set to sign into those accounts automatically when I spark it up.

Google Places, Google Pages & Facebook Pages for Business

About a year ago, I set up my Google Places page for my business – here’s how you can set up your business Google Places page - and I’ve had a Facebook Page for ages too, neither to be confused with my Facebook profile or my Google account, which are more about me as a person.

Google Places pages are going to be increasingly important for Google Search as …

… Google knows where the computer is, that you are doing your search on, and will be showing you the most relevant LOCAL results first and you can bet that Google Places and Google Pages will be right up there in those results. If you can add pictures and video too, along with testimonials and star ratings, your Google Places listing will really stand out.

Pay attention to that bit – what you see when you search currently – as it will help you understand what is to follow about Google Pages now.

Sharing Stuff Online | Which Button Do YOU Press?

When you visit websites in your daily trawl now, you read articles and blog posts you like and you can click one of several buttons to share that post, or video or picture with a friend, or your followers. I have friends and followers and family mainly on Twitter, Facebook and increasingly now Google +.

(I have a Linked In profile but it’s boring so I rarely visit but my Twitter feed updates it. I often visit Ecademy but again, my Twitter feed is updating it regularly.)

If I want to share something with my friend Judith, I know the best way is via Twitter @JudithMorgan as she’s not on Facebook anymore.

If I want to share something with +Thomas Power, I know he likes many social media platforms so I could take my pick as I know he uses Ecademy’s 6^th Sense app, which aggregates them all on his Smartphone, but I also know he’s currently very active on Google + and Google Pages so that’s probably the best way to share something with him.

If I want to share something with my singing sister Heather Cairncross, who travels a lot, and relies on her Smartphone to keep in touch, I don’t want to text her as she pays for the ongoing text from the UK, but I know she loves Facebook so probably sharing something via Facebook is the best option as she hooks into Facebook via any local available wireless internet.

However, if it’s something to do with singing, or jazz, or her forthcoming album release, it’s best to Tweet her @Altovoice as I know she’ll probably want to share it with @LondonJazz or the London Symphony Orchestra as they are very active on Twitter.

So already, our brains are capable of processing, at lightning speed, who is hanging out on which platform and how to contact them quickly.

Replacing the brain space that was previously taken up by memorising phone numbers (so 1980’s darling!) we are now starting to memorise our friends Twitter names instead. I even think of my sister as Altovoice sometimes instead of Heather!

By the way, if you want to alert someone on Google + that you want to share something with them, you just type the + sign in front of their name in Google + and it should link up and let them know you are talking about you or sharing something with them.

Verifying Your Website & Author Pictures Showing In Search

Google recently announced the ability to verify that you are, in fact, the Official Author of your blog / website, by allowing you to hook up your Google account with your blog and to add a bit of code to your “About” page, on your site.

Now, when someone searches say “Business Marketing Brighton” and my site is shown (assuming my Google Pages isn’t), you may also see a little picture of me which draws your eye to my site regardless of whether you know me or not – as not many sites have that picture showing.

It makes my site look more authoritative, if you like.

More importantly, as I understand it, if someone in my “circles” on Google + does the same search and sees similar results, they will see my picture and immediately notice that and they are more likely to click it.

So Here’s Where Google Pages, Google Places & Google Plus Gets Really Interesting

Click To Expand

What if I search something very generic and broad like “Jazz Singer” and see a list of sites, but one has been “Plus One’d” by someone I know? This happened to me today, and I noticed my brother Alex, who lives in Australia, had Plus One’d an article so of course, my eye was immediately drawn to it. It was an article on my sister’s site about being a jazz singer.

Try it! Put in “new jazz album” on Google or even “jazz singer” and scroll down. See if you can see any listings where either my picture, Alex’s picture or Heather’s picture is shown next to any search results.

It might still depend on location, I searched while in Shoreham-By-Sea, so you might need to change your location to duplicate the search results I’m seeing, but it’s pretty powerful.

Notice also how YOU can “Plus One” a search result, right there in the Search page, by clicking that little grey’d out button, next to the entry on the right hand side. Once you have clicked it, it goes blue.

Again, I searched something even more obscure by just typing in “at last video” and on the first page of Google were two things I have recently “Plus One’d” including a blog post of my sister on making her album “At Last” and a video of Beyonce singing that song at Obama’s inauguration ball.

See what you see if you do the same search – especially if you are in my circles on Google +. And you might want to go and see what some of your favourite brands or celebrities are doing with their Google Pages.

Google’s Plan For World Domination Comes Together

I hope by now you must be able to see what I see, when I thing about Google + and Google Pages, the same as I saw the rise and rise of Twitter, back in 2006/2007.

Search is getting more relevant all the time – Google’s Mission Statement – and it’s getting LOCAL. Sergey Brin and Larry Page know where you live (or at least where your laptop is RIGHT NOW!).

Now it’s getting PERSONAL too. Sergey and Larry know who your friends are too, what they like and what you might like.

When I did a search a minute ago just to confirm their names, an article written by Chris Page popped up – I don’t know him but I recognise his author photo because I’ve seen it in the streams of some of the people I follow on Google +.

So if I’m searching for information, whose article am I going to read first?

I did a search for “Ecademy” and as well as numerous pictures of Thomas Power, one of the items had pictures of Thomas, Penny Power and the new MD of Ecademy Daniel Priestley, all of whom I know.

Which article am I going to read first? The one shared by all three of them, obviously.

You can disagree with this all you like, and sure, it does sound a bit Big Brother, but if you are in business, you can’t afford to ignore Google Pages particularly.

What You Need To Do Right Now!

If you have a business, and you really want to be found when your potential future customers – or the FRIENDS of those potential future customers – search for you on Google, you will only stand a fighting chance if you have the following in place.

A website powered by the marvellously search engine friendly software WordPress, hosted on your own domain and server (you must keep control!)
Regularly updated relevant content that is of value to your potential future customers – and their friends, followers, circles etc.
The plugins that will generate the little Tweet, Facebook Like and Google + buttons so they can share your content with their friends in the best way possible
An “About” page hooked up to your Google account, and verified that you are the Author of your site.
A Facebook profile and business page – some people are never going to use Google + – one that is compelling and giving away great content in return for a “Like”
A Twitter account, updating your Linked In, Ecademy and many other profiles automatically when you add new content
A Google account, Gmail, a Google Places / Map page, a personal Google + profile and a Google Brand Page
Someone in your firm who loves Social Media and who can interact with your customers where-ever they like to hang out and who can make sure your great content spreads as far and wide as possible.

One Last Thought About Google +, Google Places & Google Pages (And It’s A Very Sexy One)

Click To Expand!

Pay attention because I’ve not seen anyone else – not even the bigger bloggers – mentioning this yet.

In my last blog post I talked about the importance of having faith as an entrepreneur – having faith that what you are doing on a day to day basis will have an impact.

I likened taking action as an entrepreneur as tossing pebbles in a pond, knowing they are going to make ripples, but not knowing where the ripples will end up or what impact those ripples will have.

If you are already on Google + and sharing your content there, go and check out one of the articles on your stream and in the top right hand corner you will see a little drop down arrow, you know the type. Click that and then click on the bottom link, innocently entitled Ripples.

Go and check out the impact – the Google + Ripples some of the action you are taking online is having….

Fascinating stuff!

I would love to hear your comments or questions about Google Pages – do feel free to use the Facebook Comments link or just add your comments to the box down below. Seems a bit ”old school” now but I’d love to hear from you!

And of course, if you found this Google Pages article useful, please share by Tweeting or Liking on Facebook or Google + ‘ing it.

Nicola