How To Use Google+ Successfully Despite The Recent Changes To Authorship

Google+ is still relatively new in the social media realm since debuting in 2011. In the beginning, it was met with fanfare as the social site that would “destroy Facebook”. Fast forward to 2014, and it has not achieved the goal just yet. Even though it has not become the juggernaut that Facebook is, Google+ is vastly important in the search engine optimization (SEO) realm and will help your business when it comes to ranking in the search engine results. This post is going to delve into a few of the terms around Google+, as well as how to use this social site from the ground up to benefit your company’s search engine results.

The Recent G+ News About Authorship

If you didn’t know already, tied into Google Plus is Google’s Authorship. This is the status someone can obtain by linking their WordPress blog or other author site to their G+ profile and getting found in Google’s results with their headshot, author name, and Google circle amount by the search engine result. (More on Authorship in the tips found below in this blog.)

Big news shook the online world when recently, Google’s analyst John Mueller announced (as of June 25, 2014) that Authorship results in SERPs will no longer display an author picture. We blogged about it here. Authorship, however, is definitely not gone. The Authorship status has dropped from a headshot to simply a clickable name. The debate is still in the air as to whether the author picture will cause a drop in clickthrough rates to certain authors (would you rather click a face or a name?). Google thinks it’ll mean cleaner results for their SERPs.

Google+ Terminology

Learning terms for every social site is vital to understanding it. Let’s look at five different terms you will be met with daily when using Google+.

1. Stream. The stream is the home page of your Google+ account. You will see posts from those in your circles (described in point 3), and you will be able to interact with them by commenting or adding +1s (described in point 5) to their updates.

2. Location Page. This is excellent for small and local businesses. You will need to verify your business on this page, but once you do, you will have the ability to implement more local search optimization with more results. You can also use Google’s handy tool, Google Insights, to look at how often your business comes up in search results.

3. Circles. These are incredible networking tools for all business owners. You are able to delegate different people into different circles, therefore, controlling what content a certain group of people sees. You can add your team members, VIPs, and customers to different circles and release information that pertains to those specific groups. Another great element of circles is the extended circles feature. This lets people who are not in any of your circles to see your content by way of the people who are currently in your circles. It is similar to the “friends of friends” feature on Facebook where friends of your friends can see posts you make, even though you are not on their Facebook.

4. +1s. If you’ve ever used Facebook, this feature is somewhat similar to “liking” a post. This is the action that gets your posts noticed in extended circles. Each +1 will also create a new link to your site, which boosts your organic search results.

5. Hangouts. This is another powerful networking tool made available to you for free. This gives you the ability to have a live video chat with up to ten different people. This can help with a number of things from learning new methods of marketing to hiring new people all around the world. You are able to record a video if people cannot attend meetings, as well.

How To Use Google+ For Your Business

With those five terms, it is time to take a look at how you can use Google+ for your business and how it will help you. Here are a few pointers as you start your journey with this social site.

1. Create Your Profile. If you already have a Gmail account, then you are halfway to setting up a G+ account. If you do not, then go to Google and select to create a new email account. Once you have done so, it will be time to create your Google+ profile. You will need to upload a cover and profile photo. Make sure the photos are high quality and, if you plan on linking Google+ to your blog, make sure the profile photo is a relevant photo. Social Media Today says that one of the most important things with a Google+ profile is never to leave it unfinished. Always make sure to include things such as business keywords, your business hours, and any contact information, as well as linking back to your official website.

2. Create Your Circles. When you first create your G+ profile, you will be prompted to make your circles. Google will give you a list of suggestions for people you can add to your circles, which can be beneficial for finding people in your field. Add different people to your different circles to make sure you can select them to see their specific content when you post it. The core groups are family, friends, acquaintances, and following, but you can create new circles to add customers, employees, or any other circle you may want or need.

3. Posting to the Platform. G+ aims for a great user experience, making it easy for you to choose who will see your posts and who won’t. When you write a post on Google+, you will be asked which circle you want to share with before you are able to post. If you are posting your newsletter about upcoming events for customers, select the customer circle. This way, it will be seen by your client base instead of your employees, family, friends, or any other group you have listed.

4. The 411 One Hangouts. As mentioned previously, Google Hangouts are great for networking. Jeff Bullas says that it is best to use Google’s web browser “Chrome” when doing a hangout, as it will run better. You will be asked to connect YouTube to your Google+ account in order to continue and to install the Hangout plugin. Both of these are fairly easy, and Google makes sure to walk you through the process as seamlessly as possible. After that, you are ready to talk live to a group of people or record. This is perfect for webinars or team meetings, which can give people necessary information.

5. Optimize Your Profile. Google makes their social site a crucial element in SEO and they give you the ability to optimize your profile. This gives people a higher chance of coming across your Google+ account when searching for specific keywords. The way to use keywords in your profile is to use them when you are writing your description and all other information. It is key that you fill out every aspect of a Google+ profile to receive adequate optimization. You will also need to have a high quality image for your profile and cover photos, optimize your Google+ title tags (the very first sentence of Google+ posts becomes the title tag), and stay active with the account.

6. Google Authorship and Blogging. This is one of the best and most important features you can use with Google+ if you have a blog for your company. This is a major element in ranking on the search engine results page. Blogging is also a great way to socialize on your Google+ page because it will give you some ideas of what to share. This will also help you get more +1s or even be added to other people’s circles.

There are two ways to set up Google Authorship on your blog – email verification or links. The most common way is via email verification. For this, you will need a photograph that is a headshot of you, and you will need to make sure the page you are claiming has a clear byline that it is, in fact, your site. You can do this by adding your name as it appears on your Google+ profile to it. Use your web domain email and send it in to GA. Once you finish this, you are set up for authorship. For adding the link, you will need to make some small changes to the HTML of the site and add a link for Google Authorship. You will be able to find all of this information and more over at the Google Authorship help page. Once you start the process, you will find that it is rather easy as Google takes user experience very seriously.

7. Post Regularly About Your Product And Others. As mentioned previously, the more active you are on G+, the better. However, you should consider posting more than just information regarding your business. Post things you find around the Internet that pertain to your field or something you find interesting. Many experts suggest following the 80/20 rule where 80% of your posts should be about things such as items or news stories pertaining to your field, and 20% should be about your company and product. Always remember that when you are posting content, that you should also be interacting. People enjoy knowing there is someone there to interact with, and this is something Google takes seriously.

In Closing

G+ is a learning process for even the most advanced user. Once you have learned the basics and start growing, you will still need to learn about how to tweak your postings to suit your audience. You will also need to learn which optimization techniques will work the best and change any keywords as you learn more about what brings people to your website and Google+ profile. Once you start using this social site, you will start feeling increasingly comfortable with it. Give G+ a shot, and you will start seeing some incredibly positive results!