Google’s Local Offerings Have Gotten Too Complicated It says something about Google’s local products that consultants and bloggers like Mike Blumenthal and Linda Buquet are known specifically for their skill in keeping track of the name changes, the shifts in direction, the feature rollouts and rollbacks, and the exception cases and frustrations that have become a fact of life for local businesses trying to use the search giant’s services. The much-publicized shift from Google Places to Google+ Local that took place back in May (and still has not finished rolling out) is just one milestone in a complicated history. Remember Google Hotpot, to take just one example of a once-promising service which fell by the wayside before many had even heard of it? The extended Google+ Local rollout has been more troublesome than most. Usually when Google has experimented with social services in the past, such as Google Buzz and Google Wave, it has done so in a tangential way that does not threaten core functionality. Merge the Back End.
Google Plus Tips & Shortcuts “the motherlode of Google+ tips for all y’all suckas that don’t know…” – Donny Rhoades I figured it would be useful to put all of the Google Plus tips and shortcuts I have found thus far in one handy place. Please add any additional tips you discover in the comments. NEW! Tips Last Updated:9/1/11 7:08am PST - Google+ currently does not support “entities” that are not people, but they will in the future (see this discussion between Danny Sullivan and Brad Horowitz). - You have to click on the “Chat with people on Google+” link to enable chat within Google+ but then you get IM functionality. - When chatting to people you can drag the top of the chatting box to resize the chatting window - Go start a chat on Google Talk on your phone. - +Everything:This extension adds the Google+ bar to all websites. - +1 Button: Plus one every page you like with only one click, directly from omnibox, without any annoying popup - Color Bar Changer: Changes color of Google Plus bar to green, pink or blue. - New!
Syncing Your Google Plus and +Local Pages: Plusses and Minuses MIHMORANDUM NO. 1577 | September 17th, 2012 I’m not necessarily saying anyone should do this right now, as the implications of syncing / switching over completely to a Google +Local page are still unclear. But, since I have virtually stopped taking on new clients for my consulting business in order to focus the vast majority of my time on GetListed, I decided to experiment with the new verification process for David Mihm Web Design / Local SEO. So, for those of you still on the fence, perhaps the following before-and-after walkthrough will help you decide whether it’s right for your business to sync yet. Please note, as Mike Blumenthal pointed out in his version of this post: - If you do not have a +Business page then you can’t start this process until you create one.- If you have a +Business Page which doesn’t have a page category of Local, it cannot be upgraded. Cliffs Notes on the Process The Initial Verification Going through the verification process is pretty straightforward.
Google+ Rolls Out A New Page Manager Dashboard As Google Plus Daily first reported, Google+ has launched a new Page manager dashboard with a new look, added functionality and some very basic stats about the Pages you manage. The old dashboard was spartan and borderline useless. It only displayed the different Pages you managed with a blue “Switch to this page” button for each — the same button you’d see if you skipped the dashboard and went directly to the Page itself The new dashboard still shows all your Pages and links to “Switch to this page,” but also includes: basic stats like how many followers each page has and when the last post was madethe red notifications icon for quick access to Page activitya link to manage the Page Managerslinks to the Page settings and profile Here’s a screenshot of my Pages dashboard: Related Topics: Channel: Social Media Marketing | Google | Google: Google+ | Social Media Marketing | Top News
Badge - Google+ Platform Page Badge Tag The Google+ badge allows visitors to engage with your brand directly from the badge itself. The minimum code required to render a Google+ badge on your website is one JavaScript include and a badge tag. You can also use an HTML5-valid badge tag by setting the class attribute to g-page, and prefixing any badge attributes with data-. Example badge sizes Tag attributes for the pages badge These parameters control settings for each badge. Direct Connect Google+ Direct Connect helps visitors find your Google+ page and add it to their circles from directly within Google Search. You can also connect your site by simply linking to your Google+ page anywhere on the page using a standard <a> element and include the rel="publisher" attribute on the link.
www.jeffbullas.com/2012/06/20/5-google-insights-resources-and-tips-for-business-plus-infographic/ Social networks are evolving before our eyes. The changes are often subtle and hidden. Facebook is still the defacto social network with over 900 million users. To make money though, it has no other option but to monetize the stream called the Timeline. This puts a lot of clutter onto the screen. Facebook has also admitted that it hasn’t got its mobile strategy and platforms positioned to take advantage of the explosion in mobile from iPads to Androids and the recently announced Microsoft mobile tablet “Surface“. This gap in their plans was seen more clearly when they paid a premium price of $1 billion for the mobile photo app Instagram to secure a mobile online asset as a beach head. Facebook and Apple have also announced a close integration of Facebook for mobile in Apple’s new mobile operating system iOS6. Why Google Doesn’t need to Make Money from Google+ Google doesn’t really care about monetizing Google+ because it makes its money elsewhere. Is Google+ a “Pure” Social Network? #4. #5.
Google+ Is Now The Number Two Social Network In The World The Google+ Ghost Town talk is finally beginning to come to a screeching halt thanks to a new report by Global Web Index. The numbers gathered now show that Google+ has surpassed Twitter in active users and is second only to Facebook. From now on, whenever somebody even hints at Google+ being a failure all you can do is tilt your head slightly and look at them funny. This quick graphic I created only shows the numbers for Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, although Technically YouTube was considered #3 and Twitter came in at #4 by the numbers. Although it is good to note that Twitter is actually the fastest growing of them all, with 40% growth in the last quarter. As advertisers, businesses and brands continue to see a decline in the effectiveness of their Facebook efforts, Google+ continues to gain ground with it’s innovative features. If anyone has yet to see the value in Google+ as a platform to build an audience for their business or brand, they seriously need to re-think some things.
Hope Carey Local SEO with Google+ It’s not exactly surprising that Google recently made the widely-expected announcement that it plans to convert all existing Google Places pages into Google+ Local pages. So instead of boring you with further details on this transition, I want to jump into the meat of the issue: how this shift affects local SEO best practices. But first, I want to make a few clarifications since some of the terminology surrounding this change can be confusing. In the past, you had two options for promoting your business through Google: A Google Places page, which was essentially a directory style listing that showcased your basic business information, pictures, and reviews as part of the “Places” listings. The recent rollout of Google+ Local pages only affects the first of these two types by replacing the former Google Places listings. Currently, Google Places has been replaced by Google+ Local pages, although there’s still no way to combine your existing Google+ Local page with your Google+ Page.