Google +By Samantha Collier

Do I really need to open another Social Media Account…

YES!!!

What’s the big deal?

It’s all about the SEARCH!!

• Google controls 80% of search traffic

• Google incorporates their +1 buttons in their search results and also determine search results based on Google + usage

History

Launched in June 2011Accumulated over 40

million users in 2 months (1/3 of LinkedIn)

Launched Business Pages in November 2011

How to set up an account

• Choose an accessible Gmail account that is available to multiple people (not personal)

• Create page with desired account by visiting http://plus.google.com/pages/create

• Pick appropriate business category• Add tagline, logo (keep it short)• Google will prompt you to promote your page but you

must optimize your profile first by: regularly sharing fresh content, respond to your fans, etc.

Hangouts

• Similar to Video Conferences• Features include: screensharing, • Up to 10 participants• Whomever is talking gets showcased in the conference

call while the others are shown in a row along the bottom of the screen

Pages

• You can set up pages for your business similar to Facebook pages

• A great way to get your brand in front of general Google searchers

• Similar to personal profiles except you can’t put people in your Google Page circles until they first connect with your business page.

Circles

• Use Circles to Segment Your Messages• Google+ built on idea that different groups of people prefer different

content. • People can belong to more than one circle.• Start your circles early on: lawyers, marketers, clients, leads, etc. • Consider starting a topic circle. Post it and ask if others want to join.• When you add someone to a circle you can mutually share, chat with

them (if they add you too), and they’ll appear on your public profile• They will know you added them but can’t see the name of your circle

The +1 button

• These buttons appear in search results and can be embedded on other sites as well (blog, website, etc.)

• The +1 count that is displayed on each button is based on the address of the page where it sits. This is important as it may influence how you design your website.

• Websites using Google’s +1 button get 3.5x the Google+ visits• To get the best results you must add sharing buttons to your

sites – very important!• A powerful feature is you can see that certain results are

extremely popular in search and this will influence click-throughs

How to Optimize your Profile

Pictures

• Share lots of photos. Think about your business visually. Which images can you share to ignite conversations? Google+ is built for this.

Add Recommended Links

• Under the About tab of your Google+ Page, you can add recommended links. Add links to articles, blog posts, your new book…

Promote your Google + on your blog / website

• To gain value with Google +, you must build your community with your content. In order to get people to add your Google+ page you must promote it in places where you are already getting traffic. Think cross-promotion!

Encourage people to share your posts

• Sharing is caring. When you post a message or photo ask your connections to share your content.

Analyize

• Is Google+ working for your business? You’ll have to check your Analytics for referral sources of traffic.

Final Thoughts

Remember that even thought Google+ has a low membership compared to Facebook, it’s still young - it has a HUGE tie to influencing search results.

Questions? Samanthataracollier@gmail.com

Samantha Collier supports lawyers, law firms and legal industry consultants in their social media marketing efforts. Her blog, Social Media for Law Firms, was a finalist for the 2010 Canadian Law Blog Awards in the Practice Management Section and she was recently recognized as one of the "The 24: Canada's Top Legal Social Media Influencers" from The Counsel Network.