Getting Started with Google Plus for Business

2. Getting Started With Google+ For Business
Getting Started With Google+ For Business ..................................................................... 2
A Little Bit About Koozai: ............................................................................................... 3
About This Whitepaper: ................................................................................................. 4
Google Search Plus Your World ...................................................................................... 5
Creating A Google+ Business Profile Page ....................................................................... 6
Category Selection ..................................................................................................... 8
Company Details ........................................................................................................ 9
Adding Updates ........................................................................................................... 10
Website Connections .................................................................................................... 11
Google+ Button ........................................................................................................... 12
Additional Information .................................................................................................. 12
Sharing Information ..................................................................................................... 13
Summary .................................................................................................................... 13

3. A Little Bit About Koozai:
Koozai are a multi-award winning digital marketing agency.
We’re one of the UK’s fastest growing technology companies having been ranked 23rd in the Deloitte Technology Fast50.
We help businesses connect with their customers online – providing a range of industry leading services from Organic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) Management to Link Building, Social Media and Brand Management.
We thrive on building long lasting client relationships and delivering true value for money. We’re passionate about what we do - and that shows in our work.
No lengthy contracts, just world class Digital Marketing. Koozai will help you build your brand online and achieve ROI that can be clearly measured against your bottom line.
How To Get In Touch:
If you would like to get in touch with us, please visit the website (www.koozai.com) or use one of the methods below:

4. About The Author:
Tara West specialises in SEO and PPC and combines these skills with her knowledge of usability, which she gained during her Advertising and Marketing degree. Tara’s skills also allow her to improve the search engine optimisation process and user experience for clients' websites. She has a strong focus on increasing traffic for websites and ensuring it is the right kind of traffic which will produce sales and conversions for each business.
She has previously worked in digital account management, which has provided her with an invaluable overview of the web design process and an excellent understanding of client expectations.
About This Whitepaper:
In this Whitepaper you will learn why having a presence on Google+ is vitally important to future search engine visibility, thanks to Google’s Search Plus Your World.
Alongside step-by-step instructions on profile creation, we show you how to get the most from your new account by building ‘Circles’ and promoting your Google+ profile via your own website.

5. Google Search Plus Your World
There has been a fundamental change to search results on Google.com called ‘Google Search Plus Your World’.
Google have now increased the level of personalised search results for users and are placing these above all other results.
They judge this based on the searcher’s Google+ account.
This means that any pages which have been shared on Google+, +1’d, or written by a user’s Google contacts, will appear above all other regular search results. As a result of this, normal search results are being pushed further down the search engine results pages.
For example, a simple search for “sushi” includes friends’ photos and recommendations.
Users do not always need to be signed into Google+ for this to happen, so it will affect a large proportion of searches.
It also impacts Google’s auto-complete function. When a user types a name into the search box, it will be auto-completed with the term that Google deems to be most relevant to them.
To combat this, it is essential that your business creates a Google+ Business Profile Page, and includes the relevant sharing buttons on every page of your website.

6. Creating A Google+ Business Profile Page
To create a Google+ Business Page, you will need to have a regular Google+ Profile as an individual user.
Go to this page: https://plus.google.com/up/start/?continue=https://plus.google.com/&type=st&gpcaz=672ba2fd
Click the red ‘Sign in’ box and sign in if you already have a profile. If you do not have a profile, click ‘Create an account’:
If you are creating a new Google+ account, fill in the form details as requested.
You will need to use a person’s first and last name, rather than your company name at this stage, as this is your personal Google+ profile, not your business profile.
You will then be asked to verify your account by having a text message sent to your mobile phone, or a voice call made to you. A genuine phone number is therefore required. You will receive a code which needs to be inputted on the next screen to verify the account. The phone number you supply can be used to verify multiple accounts and is only used for verification purposes, it is not linked to your account in any way.
Once you have done this, you will be taken to a page where you can create your profile.
This is your personal Google+ account (not your business Google+ Page), so the information you put in here is not essential to your business page and you may want to skip this step. Next, you can begin to find contacts from your other email addresses. As this is your personal account, it can be done at a later stage, so we recommend clicking ‘Continue’ for now.
You will then be taken to a page which asks you to search for people you know to add to your circles. Again, this can be done at a later stage if you wish, as it is not essential to your business page.

7. If you choose to skip this step, you will receive a message saying ‘You might be lonely’, however you can simply click ‘Continue anyway’:
Next, it gives you the option to follow public posts from other Google+ members, although, you can do this later on. To move on click ‘Continue’:
You will then be asked to include additional information within your public profile, and again this can be done at a later stage. Clic
k ‘Finish’ to move on.
On the next page, you need to click on the grey ‘More’ tab on the left hand side navigation, towards the bottom of the page. You will then see a menu expand which has a square made up of different colours which says ‘Pages’ underneath it. Click on this ‘Pages’ icon:
You will then need to click ‘Create new page’:

8. Category Selection
The next stage is to pick a category for your business.
If your business only serves one particular location, choose ‘Local Business or Place’.
Should you be creating a page for particular brand or product, rather than a business, click ‘Product or Brand’.
For companies or organisations, select ‘Company, Institution, or Organisation’.
If you choose ‘Local Business or Place’ you will be slightly limited in the information you are able to provide and your page may only show for local results.
You may also select the ‘Arts, Entertainment, or Sports’ option, if your page is for a personality or team.
Finally, choose the ‘Other’ categories option if your business does not fit into any of these.

9. Company Details
You will then need to fill in your details as requested. In particular remember to include your website address. Ensure all details are accurate:
Next, add a tag line for your page (this will appear below your page name). This does not affect what your page may be found for within search results on Google or Google Plus. You can then upload a profile picture for your brand.
Once this is complete, you can share with others in your circle. If this page was created via your own Google account this may be beneficial, however if you have only just set up this Google account, you may wish to skip this step as you will not have any contacts to share the page with.

10. Adding Updates
When logged in to Google+ you can check whether you are posting through a personal profile, or as your brand / business by clicking the page link the left hand column or by clicking on your account drop down in the top right:
You should then navigate to the ‘About’ tab of your business page. There will be no information except your website address. You should click ‘Edit’ and add details about your brand or business. At the end of your brand information you may wish to encourage users to interact with your brand on Google+ by writing: ‘Please feel free to add us to your circles for regular updates about our brand. You can also +1 us to recommend this page’.
You should then connect your website to your Google+ Business page (this bit is very important). Make sure that you take a note of the URL link for your Google+ Business Profile page so that you can send it to people.
On your page, click on the Edit profile button in the top right.
Where you have added your website URL to your about section, click on the “Link website” button alongside this. You will then see the link code that you can copy and paste onto your website:

11. Website Connections
You should then connect your website to your Google+ Business page (this part is very important). Make sure that you take a note of the URL link for your Google+ Business Profile Page so that you can send it to people. This can be found on the getting Started Page you will now be on:
If you click ‘get the badge’ you will be directed to a page where you can choose the kind of badge you would like to use, and get the code to pass on to your Web developer to put on your site:

12. Google+ Button
The Google+ button should be put on every page of your website that has content you want to be shared.
You may want to ask your Web Developer to implement this for you. Remember to choose the English UK language selection before you copy the below code:
If you want to go straight to the page with the button code on, you can use this link https://developers.google.com/+/plugins/badge/config?pageId=115427117829827480678& hl=en_GB and fill out your page ID manually. Your page ID will be the numbers after the forward slash in the URL link that you use to view your page, which you made a note of earlier.
When logged in to Google+ you can check whether you are posting as you, or as your brand / business by clicking the small square under your name which says ‘1 page’ below it:
Additional Information
Once this is complete, you should then navigate to the ‘About’ tab of your business page. There will be no information in this section except your website address.
Click ‘Edit’ and add details about your brand or business.
Make sure you add the correct contact information in the ‘Contact info’ box and add your website address in the Website box.
Next, go to each tab in your profile and add relevant information. Add photographs and videos if you can, as the more information you put in your profile, the more likely it is to appear in search results.

13. Sharing Information
At the end of your brand information you may wish to encourage users to interact with your brand on Google+ by writing: ‘Please feel free to add us to your circles for regular updates about our brand. You can also +1 us to recommend this page’.
You should ensure that whenever you enter information, you choose the setting to share it with the public. This will ensure it can be found by search engines:
It’s also important that you post on your Google+ page regularly, in a similar way that you might update your Facebook page. You should add new content, new photos and videos whenever you can.
You should only write posts about topics that are relevant to your business, so for example if you are a clothing brand, you could post about recent fashion shows or new collections.
Summary
You are now ready to use Google+ for business, add yourself to circles, and start building awareness of your brand.
To see how we do this with Koozai visit https://plus.google.com/b/100306647630320689759/ and add us to your circles.
To learn more about Google+, please visit http://www.koozai.com/blog.
If you do need any further information or assistance, you can get in touch with us easily using any of the options below.