Google+ and Your Organization
Google has been aggressively promoting their Google+ accounts ever since they launched this service in July. It has gained a little bit of traction in the Social Network wars, but has not for the most part elevated itself beyond curiosity status. However, with the latest redesign of the Google Search results page, having a Google+ account for your organization has become more important.
Google redesigned their search page to display relevant social network pages among the search results (shown to the right of the main search results); however, the only relevant results shown are those associated with Google+ accounts. So for greater visibility on Google, it makes sense to create and maintain a Google+ page. What was before considered a nice to have now adds value by boosting your exposure when prospective members search on your organization. Google has branded this service “Search, plus your world” and you can see examples of how it works at:
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/plus.html
Not having a Google+ page means you don’t get promoted on the social side of the search. It also means that a competing organization or person may end up in that top spot in search results. Having a Google+ page may not improve your ranking on standard Google search, but it will help you promote your organization on the new social side of the Google Search.
Creating a Google+ Page
To create a Google+ page for your organization, you will first need to set up a Google+ account for yourself. This can be done by pressing the “+You” button at the top right of any Google search results page and following the instructions. Chances are if you are using Gmail or other Google services, you already have an account.
Once you have created your account, log into Google+ with it. On the right side of your “stream” you will see “Create a Page.” Click it to create a new page.
You will be asked to select a page category; select “Company, Institution, or Organization.” You will be asked other questions as well and then your Google+ organization page will be created. Once created, you can start posting, connect to other members on Google+, and try to keep your page up to date.
Once you have your page up and running, we recommend assigning an additional administrator and/or manager to the organization’s account. This allows for multiple people to contribute to the page, and if someone leaves your organization, you will still have access and control of the page. To do this, go to the Manage Google+ pages link (https://plus.google.com/pages/manage). Click on the settings link, and then click on Managers on the left side of the page. Add a new manager by entering their email address and then clicking Invite.
- Jason Voccia