After spending the initial 5 months of google+ virtually company free Google is opening their network to allow companies to create a profile exclusively representing their organisation “a business page”.
Businesses have wanted to be part of Google+’s 40 million user base from its closed launch in July. In fact, many businesses and brands made use of regular Google+ accounts as a way to participate on the service despite their non-human status.
Back in July Google began to cull pages it spotted which did not appear under human names. After terminating the profile Google promised that these pages would come, and now the five month wait has come to an end.
Google+ rolls out business pages… slowly
Beginning today and rolling on for the next two days, businesses are being welcomed in through the new Google+ pages program. Businesses will be able to create a page using the ‘create a page’ tool, if you already have a Google+ account.
But not everyone who accesses that page will be able to get a Google+ business account yet. Many will get a message saying ‘This page is not for everyone…’ it’s a random roll-out over the next couple of days, most likely to assess how the system works. Once you gain access you will be asked to create a page under the following categories:
- Local Business or Place
- Product or Brand
- Company, Institution or Organization
- Arts, Entertainment or Sports
- Other
Early impressions of Google+ for Businesses
For the now whoever creates the initial page will be the sole administrator. No one else will be able to admin the page after its creation, nor can the page be transferred to another person. Multiple administrator support has been promised in the near future, but until then it would be wise to create the page under the admin which supports the rest of your company’s social media accounts.
It is also possible for companies to operate multiple pages on Google+. For example, PepsiCo. could have their own page as well as say a Pepsi page, as well as maybe an events page.
This could be an extremely useful feature as many people on Facebook find an events page just as useful as the original company page.
There are many Google +1 buttons now on sites across the web. But instead of being able to +1 a company, you are supposed to add them to your ‘circle’, slightly confusing but if you imagine a company page as being the same as a ‘human’ page, it begins to make sense. You would not +1 a person but add them to your circle. You may well +1 content they upload, as you can now do for content a company page uploads.
Google+ business pages have been around for a matter of hours, but the amount of companies now using this feature is growing by the minute.
What is Google+ Direct Connect
Another interesting facet of the feature is ‘direct connect’ in Google Search. If Google determines your business page relevant to a search your Google+ page will appear in search results as well as your company’s website. It will also happen if someone searches the company name with a ‘+’ symbol at the start.
In comparison to Facebook, Google+ business pages are obviously in an infant stage but seem to create descent rivalry. The only issue is that not all businesses can currently create a page, and there can only be one admin, but this will change in the near future. Google+ for business allows users to connect with 40 million users and allows their content to be published and +1’d across the web. The feature also affects your search engine ranking, if the site deems your business relevant to the search, your company’s profile will appear in the search results.
Check out our Anicca Digital Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/116839118289972733770
By Lucie Crouch
