Google+ for Business is officially here!

Grow your audience with Google+

Google Webmaster Central Blog

Webmaster Level: All

At Google, we help grow your audience by connecting you with new users. We introduced the +1 button so your site would stand out on search and your users could easily share your content on Google+. But, sometimes you want to join the conversation and post content directly to where people are sharing.

Today we’re introducing Google+ for Business, a collection of tools and products that help you grow your audience. At the core of this is Google+ Pages, your site’s identity on Google+.

Google+ Pages: Have real conversations with the right people
To get your site on Google+, you first need to create a Google+ Page. On your page, you can engage in conversations with your visitors, direct readers back to your site for the latest updates, send tailored messages to specific groups of people, and see how many +1’s you have across the web. Google+ Pages will help you build relationships with your users, encouraging them to spend more time engaging with your content.

Google+ Pages are at the heart of Google+ for Business

Hangouts

Sometimes you might want to chat with your users face-to-face.  For example, if you run a food blog, you may want to invite a chef to talk about her favorite recipe, or if you manage a fashion review site, beauty specialists might want to hold how-to sessions with makeup tips. Hangouts make this easy, by letting you have high-quality video chats with nine people with a single click. You can use Hangouts to hold live forums, break news or simply get to know people better, all in real time.

Hangouts let you meet your customers, face-to-face

Circles

Circles allow you to group followers of your Page into smaller audiences. You can then share specific messages with specific groups. For example, you could create a Circle containing your most loyal readers and offer them exclusive content.
The Google+ badge: Grow your audience on Google+

To help your users find your page and start sharing, there are two buttons you can add to your site by visiting our Google+ badge configuration tool:

The Google+ icon, a small icon that directly links to your Page.

The Google+ badge, which we’re introducing in the coming days. This badge lets people add your page to their circles without leaving your site, and allows them to get updates from your site via Google+.

 

Extend the power of +1, stand out in Google search
You can also link your site to your Google+ page so that all your +1s -- from your Page, your website, and search results -- will get tallied together and appear as a single total. Potential visitors will be more likely to see the recommendations your site has received, whether they’re looking at a search result, your website, or your Page, meaning your +1’s will reach not only the 40 million users of Google+, but all the people who come to Google every day. You can link your site to your Page either using the Google+ badge or with a  piece of code. To set this up, visit our Google+ badge configuration tool.

Bringing Google+ to the rest of Google

Our ultimate vision for Google+ is to transform the overall Google experience -- weaving identity and sharing into all of our products. Beginning today, we’re rolling out a new experimental feature to a small group of eligible publishers, Google+ Direct Connect -- an easy way for your audience to find your Google+ Page on Google search.  If you’ve linked your Page to your site and you qualify, when someone searches for your website’s name with the ‘+’ sign before it Direct Connect will send them directly to your Page. For example, try searching for ‘+YouTube’ on Google. Users will also be prompted to automatically add Pages they find through Direct Connect to their circles. 

Direct Connect suggestions start populating as you type on Google.com

Just the beginning
We want to help you get your site on Google+ as soon as possible, so we’re opening the field trial for Google+ Pages to everyone today. Creating a Google+ Page only takes a few minutes. To get started, you’ll need a personal Google+ profile. If you don’t have a Google account, it’s very quick and easy to join. And if you’re looking for inspiration, check out some of the sites that are already starting to set up their Pages:

To learn more about how Google+ works for your site, check out the Google+ Your Business site. We’re just getting started, and have many more features planned for the coming weeks and months. To keep up to date on the latest news and tips, add the Google+ Your Business page to your circles. If you have ideas on how we can improve Google+ for your site, we’d love to hear them.

Posted by Dennis Troper, Product Management Director, Google+ Pages

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Article: Google updates search results to promote fresh content when it’s needed most - The Next Web

In light of this update by Google, how long do yo think your content will be "relevant" and "fresh"? This might be a good time to rethink your content marketing strategy!

Google updates search results to promote fresh content when it’s needed most - The Next Web
http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/11/03/google-updates-search-results-to-promote-fresh-content-when-its-needed-most/

Google has just announced that it has updated its search algorithm to promote the latest relevant results where it makes sense to do so.

The company explains “Given the incredibly fast pace at which information moves in today’s world, the most recent information can be from the last week, day or even minute, and depending on the search terms, the algorithm needs to be able to figure out if a result from a week ago about a TV show is recent, or if a result from a week ago about breaking news is too old.”

(via Instapaper)

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Happy Diwali!

Wish you a Happy Diwali!

The "festival of lights" has a special significance in the Indian culture. It marks the beginning of a new year, and brings with it hopes of prosperity.

So, to all my friends across the world, here's wishing you health, wealth, and prosperity!

iPad 2 and iOS 5 proudly present "The Keyboard Split"!

Article: Eye-Tracking Google SERPs - 5 Tales of Pizza | SEOmoz

Very interesting study. From personal experience, I would agree that we tend to click on links that visually seem more "trustworthy". Having a local/Places listing definitely tends to increase this "trustworthiness". 

Eye-Tracking Google SERPs - 5 Tales of Pizza | SEOmoz
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/eyetracking-google-serps

I think the first and most obvious implication is that, as Google moves away from 10 plain listings for more and more searches, it is definitely having an impact on search users. You need to be familiar with your competitive space and take advantage of SERP enhancements, like video thumbnails. Ranking #1 might not be pulling the weight it used to if your competitors down the page have more visually interesting results.

These results also suggest that the in-page Local/Places results are having a strong impact, even if they fall in the middle of the page. In these limited cases, they seemed to pull attention away from the top organic spots. If your query has a local flavor, you need to be aware of how your Google Places page is competing.

(via Instapaper)

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Article: Eye-Tracking Google SERPs - 5 Tales of Pizza | SEOmoz

Very interesting study. From personal experience, I would agree that we tend to click on links that visually seem more "trustworthy". Having a local/Places listing definitely tends to increase this "trustworthiness". 

Eye-Tracking Google SERPs - 5 Tales of Pizza | SEOmoz
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/eyetracking-google-serps

I think the first and most obvious implication is that, as Google moves away from 10 plain listings for more and more searches, it is definitely having an impact on search users. You need to be familiar with your competitive space and take advantage of SERP enhancements, like video thumbnails. Ranking #1 might not be pulling the weight it used to if your competitors down the page have more visually interesting results.

These results also suggest that the in-page Local/Places results are having a strong impact, even if they fall in the middle of the page. In these limited cases, they seemed to pull attention away from the top organic spots. If your query has a local flavor, you need to be aware of how your Google Places page is competing.

(via Instapaper)

Sent from my iPad

Mid-Week Madness: 28 September 2011

Wednesdays are always a mixed-bag. Its always confusing whether to be happy that half the week is over or to sulk in the fact that the weekend is still far away. However, its always a good day to recap on the interesting stuff so far this week so as to know what to expect the rest of the week.

Here are some bits that I enjoyed reading so far. Hope you find them as enlightening, funny, educational, …yada yada yada….as I did!

An “Apple” a day, keeps the rumors, well…the rumors will never stop!

What better way to get through the week than read about new rumors about the upcoming, iPhone event on October 4th. If all the speculation and anticipation about an iPhone 5 wasn’t enough, we are also now excited about “what else” to expect. If there’s one thing that Apple has done right in the last few years, it is hiring the right marketing guys.

Facebook charging users? Hogwash!

The number of posts claiming that Facebook will start charging users for the new profiles reached staggering levels throughout the week. Not just on FB, these posts started making the rounds on Google+ as well! My only reply to one such post from a friend…GROW UP SON!

Google+ hits the 50 million user mark!

Quite a landmark for Google that also celebrated its 13th birthday! Google+ became the fastest social network to reach 50 million users. Hmm…now only if I can get my friends to join my circle…till then I will have to settle for posts from the likes of Chris Brogan and Guy Kawasaki. Not a bad deal really!

Why would I want to SHARE my circles?

In yet another update to Google+, users can now share their circles with their…umm…circles! Apparently, I want to let my friend know that I have put him in a circle called “Extreme Caution: Nincompoops!” !!!!

MIdweek Productivity: Yet another checklist

Well…lets face it, you are probably neck deep in work by Wednesday. You know you should have completed the work last week…but you find yourself staring at it this Wednesday. Yes, you deserve the “Employee of the Month” award anyhow. But, here’s another checklist to help you stay on top of tasks. Just go ahead and add it to your reading list for this week…right after Moby Dick!

Have a good rest of the week, and as usual, feel free to drop me a line on Google+ or on my Facebook page.