Skyrocket your business into orbit with Google+
Have you thought of using Google+ to boost your business presence? I bet you haven’t. To tell you the truth I also hadn’t thought about until recently.
The fact to the matter is, however, that Google+ is a fast growing social media with lots of potential and better capabilities than LinkedIn when it comes to branding, promoting and marketing your business.
How could this be, you may ask. Well, by giving the right amount of freedom to contact others and protect your privacy in the same time building relationships with your potential customers is but a breeze. Moreover, with tools which only Google can supply not having a Google+ Business page is a crime.
LinkedIn makes finding like-minded people hell. You have to know their private email, to have same kind of connection through other people, or join special groups and even then it is hard to start a conversation or build trust. Facebook is no different in this aspect and trying to promote a brand new business through these platforms is a tedious affair.
Creating a Brand, Service or Local Business page with Google+ is fast and simple. Within a few minutes you will have a professional listing indexed and showing in Google. It might take a while longer if you opt for the Local Business page as this will require verification of your physical address through a postcard. But it’s worth it, after the postcard verification, your local restaurant, bookshop, or whatever local business you are having, will show up on Google Maps and in local listings.
You can also add a description, keywords, a whole presentation about your company if you desire, even a virtual tour of your local business, you have options for interactive posts for your products and so much more.
Best practices:
Choose a presentable professional-looking photograph for your profile picture if it is a personal business page (for lawyers, real estate agents, consultants, self-employed people). If it’s a company or local business page the official logo or brand should be used.
A relevant and inspiring cover photo is a must, no matter the type of business.
Write everything you can think of about you or the business you are running. This is an amazing presentation for everything you represent. If it’s a personal business page, include your skills, education, previous workplaces, all that you want people to associate you with. For all page types write a long and thorough description with links to past and present projects. You have to show what you or your company can do – don’t hold back. Just don’t be untruthful because that may also end up hurting your reputation in the long run.
Add any links to websites you are contributing to in the “Contributor to” section of your page to activate your authorship for these sites. It makes it easier for people to find you, especially if you have written an amazing post somewhere. Link to it.
After you have set up the page with the profile and cover photos, and all the needed information, you should start communicating with others. This is extremely easy, just find some sizable communities within your niche and begin +1-ing, publishing posts and leaving meaningful professional comments. Start discussions, hangouts with your new-found clients, share others’ content.
That last bit is the most important, don’t start by sharing lots of links to your website, products or services. This can be viewed by others as spam. Share interesting content related to you by other people and mention them with the + sign when sharing. This will quickly bring them to your page, start a conversation, and possibly win yourself a happy customer in the end.
Remember to also provide people with high-quality content, content they will want to share. In order to receive, you have to give first. There is nothing to it, share original helpful information, engage others in a meaningful way, and build relationships. You will be surprised by the outcome.
So what are you waiting for? Create or improve your Google+ Business page today and begin connecting with prospect customers or contributors, it’s as easy as that.