I just found out that Google+ is now allowing the creation of business pages. Until now, Google+ did not allow you to use its services for anything except personal posts. Their policy change means that Google+ business pages can now rivel Facebook pages – in fact, since you have an ability to target your audience through Google+ circles, they will be even better than Facebook.
Matthew Meyer has written a useful article here explaining just how easy it is to create your first business page on Google+. (If you have not already started using Google+, I recommend that you read Matthew’s article, since he explains how to get started.)
Once you have a Google+ profile and are signed in, you click on the “Pages” icon in the left sidebar to create your business page. Google has made it fairly easy to figure this out, but here are a few pointers you might find helpful.
Which Business Category
Google+ gives you a choice of five categories:
- Local Business or Place
- Product or Brand
- Company, Institution or Organization
- Arts, Entertainment or Sports
- Other
Google does a good job of helping you to decide: if you hover over a category you will see a few examples. Check them and see which one best fits you. “Other” is a catch-all in case you don’t see a good match in the four previous categories.
Add your info
In the article, Matthew states:
First, you will need a profile photo and tagline. Once you have this, you can edit your profile, including as much information and as many relevant links as you can. Finally, you add what Google calls a “photostrip” – five photos that will apear beneath your page name and tagline.
Using your page
Now that you have completed your business page, you will need to add content and “Spread the Word” using the link in the right sidebar. The cool thing now is that you can follow your fans and add them to your circles. If you add them to a circle for each topic they are interested in, you will be able to interact with them in a meaningful way.
