The small business owner’s guide to google plus by Joy Hawkins
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Transcript of The small business owner’s guide to google plus by Joy Hawkins
![Page 1: The small business owner’s guide to google plus by Joy Hawkins](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022070602/587ba1591a28ab81758b4e79/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
The Small Business Owner’s Guide to
Google PlusBy: Joy Hawkins
Jan 21, 2016
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What Changed?In November 2015, Google announced a new layout change for Google Plus that highlights communities & collections and changed quite a bit for how local business pages looked.
Before After
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The New Focus for G+At a small event after Google I/O in 2015, Google’s Vice President of Products Bradley
Horowitz said its social arm was going through a ‘renaissance in thinking of what Plus is and for’. For Horowitz, Plus should be about connecting people with similar interests together, not a catch-all social service.
Joy’s translation: Google is not trying to be Facebook
Mike Blumenthal’s translation: If you haven’t gotten the message yet it should finally be clear in the release of their new and improved G+: BUSINESS UNWELCOME.
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Reviews Help! Where did my reviews go?
The Google reviews for small businesses no longer show up on the G+ page
They did not disappear. They still show up where all your customers would have seen them - Google search & Google Maps
The only way your customers will miss out on seeing these reviews is if they were using G+ and searched for your business on G+Gone
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If the answer to that question is no, you should not be concerned about this change. They weren’t reading your reviews there anyway.
Are Your Customers Regular Users of G+?
Facebook = 252 likes, 130 shares, 6 comments
Google Plus = 6 likes, 2 shares, 0 comments
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ReviewsMost review buttons on small
business websites are “broken” since they usually linked to G+
Action Item: Update your review links on your website & email signature.
Where can I send customers to leave a review?
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1. Send them to Google Maps
2 Options...2. Use a tool to generate a link to send to your customers:
https://www.grade.us/home/labs/google-review-link-generator
https://pleper.com/index.php?do=tools&sdo=google_review_link
Click Share
Click Short URL
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ReviewsIf your customers aren’t on G+ and
your page doesn’t generate comments or shares (or ROI) > No
Instead, embed a Google Map on your site to show off your reviews.
Should I bother linking to G+ on my website?
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The reviews tab was never for reviews that customers had left your business
The tab was there to show reviews that you had left as your business (business-to-business reviews)
Updated guide on how to leave B2B Reviews is coming soon! Email me to send you a copy: [email protected]
Reviews
What about the reviews tab?
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PhotosYour cover photo is not your default photo
Google often does not show logos as the defaultOur Cover Photo
What Google is Actually Showing
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VideosGoogle began to separate Google Plus and YouTube back in
August 2015 when they no longer required a G+ profile when uploading, commenting or creating channels on YouTube
YouTube tab is gone
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VideosCustomers will see your videos
on YouTube & where they show up on Google search.
This is probably where they were viewing them before unless they were active on G+
Where can customers see my videos?
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PostingShort answer = no
It is not one of the Local Search Ranking Factors
“It’s nearly impossible for people to see your Google+ posts unless they search for your business by name. Google doesn’t include a link to your “Plus” page in the local pack. Google doesn’t even call it a “Plus” page anymore. Do you still believe being active on Google+ is a local ranking factor?” - Phil Rozek
Does posting on G+ help my ranking?
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Still Think G+ is for Small Businesses?August 1, 2015 - Google disconnects photos from G+
December 10, 2015 - Google removes AdWords Social Extensions
Gone
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Business DescriptionNowhere.
Customers won’t see it and it has little-to-no impact on ranking.
Where does my business description show up?
Descriptions used to be on the About tab of a G+ Local page
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Google Search
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Google Maps
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Local Finder
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Editorial SummariesIf your business is
popular enough, Google writes a description that shows up on Google Maps & the Local Finder
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Info for SEOs
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Duplicates
Brand G+ pages don’t impact local ranking in the 3-pack, only Google Maps listings do.
Brand G+ pages are often seen as “duplicates” which are a known negative ranking factor which leaves many people very confused.
There used to be a lot of visual signals that would help us see if a page was connected to Google Maps or not. These all disappeared.
What is the difference between a brand page and a Local/Maps page and how do I tell the difference?
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Does the /about page list an address & phone number?
Yes No
It’s a Brand Page (doesn’t matter)
Remove /about from the URL. Is there a verified checkmark?
Yes
It’s Not Connected to Google Maps (doesn’t matter)
This is a verified local listing and impacts ranking.
No
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Examples:
Unverified Page (doesn’t matter) https://plus.google.com/116758780243104035537/about
Brand Page (doesn’t matter) https://plus.google.com/+Coca-Cola/about
Verified Local Page (matters)https://plus.google.com/109147422080818123483/about
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DuplicatesYou still need the G+ URLs to search for duplicate listings on Google.
http://searchengineland.com/definitive-guide-duplicate-research-local-seo-238719
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Brand PagesYes. The instructions are here but at the time of writing this, they are not accurate. Here is what you do:1) Go to the dashboard of location page that you want to connect to a brand page.
2) Select Settings from the menu.
3) Scroll down to the bottom and click "Connect to a different page"
4) Select the brand page.
I have a Brand Page and want to connect it to Google Maps so it ranks in the 3-pack. Is this possible?
This will cause a few things to happen:1) The brand page will get verified
2) Reviews will show up
3) Followers are retained
4) You keep the custom URL
5) The brand page is now flagged as a backup
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Future for G+
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Where G+ is Headed“Today, we’re starting to introduce a fully redesigned Google+ that puts Communities and Collections front and center. Now focused around interests, the new Google+ is much simpler. And it’s more mobile-friendly—we’ve
rebuilt it across web, Android and iOS so that you’ll have a fast and consistent experience whether you are on a big screen or small one.”
(November 15, 2015)
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What Makes a Good Community?Check to see if anyone is talking. If posts generate no comments it’s
likely you won’t get much benefit from the group.
I have found smaller communities to be better quality than larger ones.
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Should You Bother with G+?Google+ is a great channel for finding news and meeting other
professionals in your industry.
Google+ is a great way to display your expertise on a topic if there is a Community there that is related to your interests & industry.
Anyone in the marketing industry should be using Google+ I have got several clients from posting on G+
If your customers use Google+, you should use Google+
Further Reading: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/the-future-of-google-what-new-research-reveals/
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Connect with Me!
twitter.com/JoyanneHawkins
plus.google.com/+JoyHawkins
1-866-430-0457 x 301