How To: Create a Google Plus Business Page
by Dave Maloney
Up until now, Google's latest attempt at social media, Google + was only open to individuals to be able to share and recommend within their "circles" and businesses weren't allowed. Last week Google announced that your company can now create a Google Plus Business page. The look and feel of Google+'s business pages is (disappointingly) almost identical to Facebook's Business pages, and although some of the features may be a little different, the overall social mechanism is the same as we're all used to. So you're probably thinking you really don't need to have another business page on another network to maintain. Well, it might not be a bad idea: this is Google.
Creating your Google Plus Business Page is pretty simple if you've already been through the process with Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc., and you can probably have it all set in about 10 minutes (honest). Google will undoubtedly add more features and goodies as time goes on, and maybe this one will actually take off and give Facebook a run for its money; but for now your business will at least have a presence there and you can invest more time in it then.
Steps to Create your Google Plus Business Page
1. Like Facebook, you need to sign in with a name and email to make an account. If you want more than one person in the company to be able to have access to the page, don't use your own email address; create a new Gmail account with a name and password that you can all share. (Save your login info somewhere so you'll be able to find it next time you need to log in!)
2. Got to http://www.google.com/+/business/ and click "Sign In" to get started. Just like setting up your Facebook page, you first choose a general category from their drop down list and then fill in the fields with your company's info - website, tagline, description, etc. Upload a photo or logo for your profile image, and don't worry about trying to get too fancy, there's not much you do with it.
3. Add a post or two to your page, just to make it look a little alive - link to a blog article on your company's website, whatever; you can even upload photos to the photostream at the top. Now, click share and let the world know your page is there!
Learn more about the benefits of a Google Plus Business Page and create your company's page at http://www.google.com/+/business/
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