GOOGLE PLUS

Beginner’s Guide

For Real Estate

Do you ever feel

like this guy?

I don’t know what to

do with Google Plus!

None of my

friends are on

Google Plus!

There are so many

social media

networks; I can’t

master ANOTHER

one!

Image courtesy of Jill Whalen, Owner, High Rankings

Why Use

GOOGLE PLUS?

It’s Google; ’nuff said. Any Google products you can use

can’t hurt your SEO*.

*SEO = Getting your

website to the top of

page one in Google

search results.

Those ahead of the curve-the

thought leaders like Chris Brogan

and Scott Stratten, etc. are already

there– and Chris has given up

Facebook for Google Plus.

Your privacy is more in your control.

Those same thought leaders have never been

more accessible on a social media site since the

early days of Twitter.

Speaking of SEO, we’ll

show you how to

optimize your profile

page for maximum SEO

power in conjunction

with your website.

Tip for Agents

If you have a website

with lead capture abilities,

there are many ways to optimize

your profile to get YOU

more internet leads!

Image courtesy of Tom Raftery

Before Getting Started

with GOOGLE PLUS

Now we’ve established that you need to be on

Google Plus. Here’s how:

*Make sure your Gmail

account is tied in with

your business and its

location for maximum

SEO power.

Gather links to all

your important

websites:

Next, be sure that your business is

located in Google Places and/or

Google Maps. If not, you will have

to wait for Google to approve the

business location.

Do not skip this step, because this is

how people will find your business.

First thing is first—get a Gmail account*.

That is the best way to get in.

Tip for Agents

If your brokerage is

already listed under the same

address, you still need to get your

own location address to be

mapped correctly !

* Website, Home Search Site, Blog Sites

* Social Media Sites—Facebook, Twitter, Etc.

* Social Bookmarking Sites—

StumbleUpon, Digg, Etc.

* Review Site Profiles—Yelp, Merchant Circle, Etc.

We’ll show you

how to do

these things

on the next pages!

Signing Up and In

To GOOGLE PLUS

Now that you have a Gmail account, go to

http://plus.google.com and sign in.*

*Don’t chose

Create an Account.

You already did this

in Gmail—chose

Sign In.

The first thing you

want to do is create

your personal profile.

Tip for Agents

Google Plus will encourage

you to invite friends to visit your

profile. DO NOT INVITE FRIENDS at this

point! You do NOT want potential clients

to see an incomplete profile

with no posts! Google Plus will ask you for your

personal information, etc. Fill these

sections out as completely as you can.

Think about what you’d like to

accomplish on Google Plus. Most

agents want to be found in Google

search results, plus have traffic

directed to their websites and blogs.

Any questions about completing your

profile, ask on our Facebook page

(facebook.com/AgentKnowHow);

however, read the very next page

first—it could answer a question!

Filling out

your G+ profile!

Once you see the red bar at the top, you can edit your profile.

First, click under your name (arrow pointing up towards it in this guide).

Then, carefully craft your keywords but be friendly!

Introduction is where you want to be descriptive. You can use HTML here

and anchor link your text keywords with important websites. If you don’t

know how to do that use keywords alone.

Recommended links (on the right) is where you place all those websites

we asked you to gather earlier.

Tip for Agents

Don’t skip this page. This

is the most important step to

getting found by consumers

through Google searches!

Filling out

your G+ profile! (Pg 2)

When you are in your stream and hover your mouse over someone’s name (see

image above), a description shows that is different from the “Description” on your

About page .

This description is actually Employment, but we’ll show you how to put something

descriptive there to make people want to follow you.

Tip for Agents

Put something in your

Employment section that will make

people want to follow you! And of

course, your last two jobs.

In Edit Profile, pitch

yourself here in

the Employment spot

closest to the bottom.

Leave the Job Title &

Start boxes blank but

check Current box. It

will auto-fill 2012 but

that’s okay.

Circles on

GOOGLE PLUS

Don’t be intimidated by Circles—they are easy

peasy once you understand them! Anything worth

knowing has a learning curve, right?

See the red arrow at the top? This is how you get

to your Circles.

The other red arrow points to how you can find

people. You can also go the Search bar to the

right of this, or find people on

http://FindPeopleOnPlus.com. Read on...

Click on + Add a new person to add the

people you’ve found. Start typing their

names..once they are showing up (like

the super awesome Katie Lance of Inman

Next above), then you can drag each

person to the circles you’ve created.

Tip for Agents

If you have several

marketing niches, create a

circle for each niche,

like neighborhoods!

Click on the gray circle to

create your own circles.

Use your imagination when

naming circles!

Circles on

GOOGLE PLUS (pg2)

Circles on

GOOGLE PLUS (pg3)

Below is a wonderful explanation of Circles

from local SEO consultant, David Bruce Jr. of

FrederickWebPromotions.com.

Click on the box below Stream where it says Share what’s new…

Type a + sign and immediately following it, the name of the

person you wish to talk to. (Ex.: +Audeliz Angie Perez) Then enter.

Afterwards, type what you want to say. See below!

Where the red arrow is pointing below, you can add a photo, video, link, or

location.

This won’t show up on Angie’s profile, but in her stream and mine.

How Do I Talk to People

on GOOGLE PLUS?

So, now you have your Circles ready.

How do you talk to people?

Tip for Agents

Create a circle for real

estate agents only-in case you have

a question you’d like answered you

would rather the public not see,

such as referral discussions.

*Noise = Frequent or

many posts, usually by

the same person(s).

Here is how my post shows up in the stream. And, it will show up

in my profile of anyone I’ve shared it with. If it’s Public, anyone

will be able to see it.

How Do I Talk to People

on GOOGLE PLUS? (Pg 2)

Notice the red arrow pointing to a box under Stream with a

downward pointing arrow in it? This will collapse your stream to

reduce the “noise”* coming through.

How do I “listen” to

people on G+?

How do you know when someone has responded to one

of your posts or comments? On the top right hand side

of the screen, by your profile name, you’ll see a number.

This is the number of notifications you have, which

means someone shared a post with you, commented on

your post or comment, added you to their circles, or

added you back. Click on it!

Tip for Agents

You don’t have to add everyone back that adds you!

Just Like Twitter, your stream will quickly become

filled with unwanted posts. Be choosy about who you add.

Make a circle for locals, clients, or potential clients, one for

vendors, etc. You could even break them down into

inspectors, stagers, etc. You can also view the stream from

one of your circles at a time to reduce the noise in your

stream. Quality over quantity!

The importance of

Google’s Button

The code to place the +1 Button in your content

can be found at:

http://www.google.com/intl/en/webmasters/+1/button/

index.html

You’ve probably seen Google’s +1 Button. This means that

Google search results have gone social now. It is the equivalent

of Facebook’s “Like” button, but so much more.

Google’s search results now place heavy emphasis on this

button. A +1 on your website, blog, or Google Plus, is like a

vote to Google in favor of your business. The more people

who +1 your content, the higher the search engine rankings.

Tip for Agents

Placing the +1 Button

within your content is fairly

easy to do. However, if you

feel more comfortable you

can ask your web developer

to do it for you.

How to Use

GOOGLE PLUS?

NOW you can invite people, either on the right hand side of

your stream where it encourages you to email your Google

contacts, or you can just announce to everyone on your

website and other social networks that you are available

there now and provide a link to your profile!

Tip for Agents

Just like Facebook,

engage with people! People who

are not in real estate have said

over and over that they do NOT

like spammers or agents that talk

about how great they are!

These people

are not afraid

to talk about

things other

than their

business!

If you have a webcam on your computer or laptop, click

on Start a hangout. It will tell you to adjust your screen,

audio, etc.

The person(s) you wish to Hangout with will see your

name in their stream (click the Home icon at the top to

get to your stream, or your user name in the top left in

the black band), and a message will pop up for them to

Join this Hangout.

Or you can go to a person’s post in your stream, and

click on Hang out at the bottom (see red arrow below).

GOOGLE PLUS

Hangouts

Get ready for some fun—Hangout is one of the best

features of Google Plus!

A Hangout is talking to each other on

video.

Tip for Agents

Have a client located in

another state? Hangout is a great

way to communicate visually as

well as verbally!

You know how your Google Plus profile has a long number in it,

like https://plus.google.com/u/0/117515338325348102591/posts ?

Just like Facebook’s Vanity URL, you too can have one on

Google Plus!

The long number you see above, 117515338325348102, you need

to copy and get ready to paste. This is AgentKnowHow’s

number, and you will have another number.

Go to http://gplus.to.

Your Nickname will be whatever you want after gplus.to/, for

example, ours is RealEstateCoaching.

Your Google + ID will be the long number we asked you to copy.

Paste it here.

Click on Add. That’s it! ☺

Create a Vanity URL

for GOOGLE PLUS

The most important thing is correctly setting up your profile to

get found in Google’s search engine.

Talk to people! Get to know your

community. Find ways to help people.

Invite your friends. They are probably

intimidated, too!

You can circle (follow) or not circle (ignore) anyone you want!

Create circles for niches, or important people you want to fol-

low.

Set up the +1 button on your sites and blogs. Encourage people

to +1 the content they like to bring your content up in Google’s

search engine results!

Do a Hangout with other agents to learn, and clients/

potential clients to get to know them on a deeper level.

Let us know if you like this guide, and if you’d like to see one for

Business Profiles! If you have any questions visit or contact us!

GOOGLE PLUS

for Real Estate Agents

AgentKnowHow.com

Education & Training for

New & Seasoned Agents

(424) 243-6816

Facebook.com/AgentKnowHow

Gplus.to/RealEstateCoaching

I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to Suzanne Roy, owner of

V.A. Work & Inman Next contributor, for introducing me online

to Josh Galvan & Tizish, where much of the SEO information in

this booklet came from. :) Thank you Suzanne & Josh!

David Bruce Jr., owner of Frederick Web Promotions, whose

uncanny intuition led him to start a Facebook Business

Cooperative Group a year before Google search went social,

and was kind enough to invite me to be among the first in this

fantastic group, and taught us that the +1 button was going to

be important just as soon as the +1 button came out! He

inspires me with his SEO skills every day.

Brenda Doll, my team’s lead agent, for putting up with me

as I learn new processes, and giving me freedom to pursue my

dreams knowing that I remain loyal to the team.

Audeliz Angie Perez and dotJenna, for believing in me and

pushing (coaching) me to dare to do things I never would have

dared before coming into contact with them. I owe you both

my ♥.

GOOGLE + Guide

Acknowledgements

Special thanks for letting us use your profiles/posts as examples:

Chris Brogan

Scott Stratten

Katie Lance

Ricardo Bueno

Shawn Warren

Cara Mancuso

Mike Cathell

Forgot anyone? Let us know!