Google+ Guide for Marketers

Who can benefit from this E-Book?

02

How will it benefit?

Business Owners who want to drive social engagement

Digital Marketers who want to increase footprint on organic search

You will learn how to set up your Google+ Account (Local / Page)

You will learn the best practices of engaging & building a community on Google+

You will learn Google+ tricks to rank higher on organic search

What’s Inside!

03

Why Google+? 04

Google+ Accounts (Local & Business) and steps to create them 12

The Ideal Google+ Page 19

Drive Engagement with Google+ 21

Establish Credibility in the eyes of Google Google Authorship Blogging and Publishing Google Reviews Google+ Sharing Buttons

22 29 33 35 36

04

Google+

Organic Presence

Social Presence

Bigger Footprint on Search

Presence in the inbox – Email

Local Presence

Why Google+?

High Correlation between +1s & Search Rank

Google Authorship

Author Rank

Do-Follow Links Publisher Markup

Searchable Hashtags

Social Extensions in your Google Ads

Helps Businesses in Local SEO

Each Post on G+ has its own URL

Posts shared on G+ get indexed easily

Tagging

Photo Editing

Targeted Sharing

Hangouts

Communities

Business pages

Google Places

05

Over 20 million unique mobile monthly users

Over 1 billion Google+ accounts

70% of business brands are on Google Plus

+1 button is clicked more than 5 billion times a day

Google+ is growing at 33% per annum

359 million monthly active users

Here’s why you should consider using Google+

06

Organic Presence 1

• There is high correlation between Google +1s & Search Rank. • Helps generate high CTRs and in turn more traffic

Source: SEO MOZ

07

Enhance Social Presence and Build Relationships 2

Create Circles Organize Hangouts Build Communities Publicize Events

08

Bigger Footprint on Search 3

Establish your business as a credible publisher in the eyes of Google with Publisher Markup

Search for your business and there it pops up on the right

09

Presence in the inbox – Email 4

Google Publisher authentication gives credibility and presence to your business in Gmail Inboxes.

Here it is again, in your Gmail inbox!

10

Local Presence enables Local Listings and gets automated leads to your phone with Click to Call

5

Local Listings

Click to Call

Set Up Google+ Account

12 Google+ Accounts (Local and Business) and steps to create them

Pick the type of Account based on your Business Needs 01

Social interaction

Local Listings and post socially as a business

Local Listings for a local audience

Google Plus Business Page

Google Places for Business Account

Google Plus Local Page

! Google is also auto-upgrading some verified Google Places accounts to Google Local Pages; if it doesn’t happen for you automatically and you have a verified business, you might see the upgrade option in your dashboard.

If you want:- Create a:-

13 Google+ Accounts (Local and Business) and steps to create them

Steps to Create a Google Plus Local/Business Page 1 Log in to your Google+ account and go to ‘Home‘. Select ‘Pages‘ from the drop-down box, and ‘Create a page’.

! Without a Google Plus Account, you cannot create a Google Places Account or a Google Local Page. So create a Google Plus Account first and then proceed.

14 Google+ Accounts (Local and Business) and steps to create them

Select ‘Local Business or Place’. For selections other than ‘Local’, skip two slides. 2a

15 Google+ Accounts (Local and Business) and steps to create them

Verify and continue.

Select the last option and proceed. (If you are creating a Google plus page for your business, for the first time, it will surely not show up in the search results)

3a

4a

16 Google+ Accounts (Local and Business) and steps to create them

Fill in the details.

‘Verify by postcard’ and conclude or ‘Continue and verify later’. Thereafter, get started with your Google Plus Local Page!

Until you verify your page, features like reviews and other benefits will be restricted to you.

!

5a

6a

17 Google+ Accounts (Local and Business) and steps to create them

Fill in the details, ‘Continue’ and get started with your Google Plus Business Page! 3b

18 The Ideal Google+ Page

Complete the Look!

Image (Brand Logo) Name of the Company/Brand Location Contact number Link to the official website

02

Fill in essential details required for your profile page. Remember to have the -

The Ideal Google+ Page

An ideal local page should have the following components:

Location

Image (Brand logo)

Name of the Company/Brand

Contact Number

Link to the official website

19

Location on the map

0 0

Reviews

The Ideal Google+ Page

An ideal business page should have the following components:

Image (Brand logo)

Name of the Company/Brand

Link to the official website

20

Follow button

21 Drive Engagement with Google+

03 Engage with Customers and Prospects

Organize Hangouts and connect with prospects/customers

Join Communities to find out what’s trending

Notify prospects about Events like webinars and workshops

Organize your leads and share content relevant to them with Circles

22 Establish Credibility in the eyes of Google

04 Establish Credibility in the Eyes of Google

!

A Publisher Markup would help you do that. It establishes and verifies you as a Google verified publisher

23 Establish Credibility in the eyes of Google

…you can achieve this by creating a Google+ Badge

Google Plus Profile Badge for marketers

Google Plus Page Badge for businesses

Google Plus Community Badge for communities

!

Google+ Badge: Similar to a Share Button; a Google+ Badge helps visitors to connect with your business straight from your website. There are 3 types.

24 Establish Credibility in the eyes of Google

!

Steps to create the Badge:

1 Go to Developers.Google.Com and select your preferred options.

25 Establish Credibility in the eyes of Google

!

2 Copy the code given right below the badge. You will need to place on your website.

26 Establish Credibility in the eyes of Google

!

3 Go to your WordPress dashboard, click on ‘Appearance’ and select ‘Widgets’.

4 Drag and add a ‘Text Widget’ to the Sidebar Section of the page (blog or website), on which you want your badge to appear

The following steps are for WordPress users.

!

27 Establish Credibility in the eyes of Google

!

5 Paste the code in the ‘Test Widget’ and your badge will start appearing on the page

28 Establish Credibility in the eyes of Google

!

Alternative Steps

Header Section

Paste your code in the text widget after adding it to the sidebar. Sidebar of the Homepage

Footer Section Add a text widget to the footer section of website and paste the code there.

Put the code in the header section of your website, depending upon where you want the widget to render.

Place on website:

29 Google Authorship

04 05 Get Google Authorship Helps you authenticate your creative work; gives it prominence over normal snippets and brings credibility to your content.

30 Google Authorship

Here’s why… Authorship is how you (individuals/authors) claim ownership over their content.

Benefits: Authenticates the author and thus, the credibility of the content. Prevents content plagiarism. Authorship established posts get higher Click-through Rates and better search ranks. Maybe rewarded with a better Author Rank (measure to see how credible an author is)

31 Google Authorship

Steps for a verified email address:

Visit the Google Authorship page and submit your email address to Google. Step 1

Prerequisites: • Email address must be on the same domain as your content. Eg.: Edwin@followsteps.com (if ‘followsteps.com’ is the domain) • Published posts must have byline with the author’s name. Eg.: “Author: Edwin David”.

32 Google Authorship

Steps for an unverified email address:

Step 1

Step 2

Create a link to your Google+ profile from your webpage.

Like this: <a href=”[google+_profile_url]?rel=author”>Google</a>

Add a reciprocal link back from your profile to the site(s) you just updated.

1. Edit the Contributor To section.

2. In the dialog that appears, click Add custom link, and then enter the website URL.

3. If you want, click the drop-down list to specify who can see the link.

4. Click Save.

33 Blogging and Publishing

04 06 If you blog, here’s what you can do…

Share links of your content on Google+: Links shared on Google Plus are ‘Do-Follow’, thus giving you a benefit of Rank.

34 Blogging and Publishing

Use Searchable Hashtags: Google indexes G+ hashtags for search results

Customize Posts: Make use of the options available.

_I am italic Text_ = I am italic Text

*I am bold Text* = I am bold Text

*_I am italic and bold Text_* = I am italic and bold Text

-I am strike through Text- = I am strike through Text

35 Google Reviews

04 07 Encourage Customers to write reviews (Local Pages) Reviews show up in organic search results.

For example: Liked our food? Give us your feedback ‘here’. (Hyperlink ‘here’ to your Google Plus Local or Google Places page)

Reviews of business appear on the left side of the page.

36 Google+ Sharing Buttons

04 04 08 Add Google+ Sharing Buttons to your Website Embed sharing buttons on your website! Whatever is shared on Google Plus is instantly indexed by Google.

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In Conclusion…

So get started with Google+ today!

So marketers, you now have all the information to kick-start your Google+ account, and start engaging with

relevant people.

Follow this guide to the letter. Create quality content and engage without spamming. By doing so, you would be

able to get the best out of what Google+ has to offer.

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