7 Steps to Creating a Google Plus Page for Your Business

Just like Facebook and Linkedin, businesses can now create their own Google Plus pages. I can hear you now, saying, "Oh, no! Not another social networking site! Why bother with this?" The short answer is that Google Plus pages won't be a relevant for every business. But since Google accounts for over 60% of the search market, its new offering is something worth checking out.

What's the difference between a Google Plus page and a profile?

Your page can't add people to circles until the page is added first or mentioned.
Pages can be created for a variety of reasons, while profiles are only for people.
Pages contain the +1 button, but they cannot +1 other pages or information online.
Pages can't share to extended circles and don't receive any type of notifications.
Local pages have special field that help visitors find the physical location of the business.

Here are 7 easy steps to complete a Google Plus page for your business:

1. Tied to a Gmail account. Your Google Plus page is tied directly to a Gmail account, so if you have several of them, decide which Gmail account you want to use to log into your page. If you don't have a Gmail account, you can set up one for your business. The owner of this email account is the only one that can make changes to your Google+ page.

2. Create your page. Go to this URL to create your business page on Google: https://plus.google.com/pages/create

3. Pick your category. You'll have the option of choosing between a Local Business or Place; Product or Brand; Company, Institution or Organization; Arts, Entertainment, or Sports; or Other. I chose Company, Institution, or Organization for mine.

4. Title your page. I gave my page the title of my membership site, which is the business I wanted to promote. Right now it is unclear as to whether or not you can create multiple business pages from one Gmail account. If you have several businesses, you may want to create a separate Gmail account for each and create a business page for each account.

5. Complete the profile. You can upload your logo, your headshot, or your product images to your profile, as well as videos. You can also write a short description of your business for your page. As a page, you can still do Hangouts and share posts.

6. Ugly URLs. Unfortunately, you can't create short profile URLs yet with Google Plus. So, you may have to buy a domain specifically for your Google page, or use a URL shortener service or URL redirect software. My favorite is Easy Redirect Script, http://nanacast.com/vp/100004/20300/

7. Use as person or a page. Similar to Facebook, you can switch between using your page and your personal profile to interact on Google Plus.

Only time will tell if this new option from Google will last, or if it will die a quick death like Google Buzz. Because it's relatively simple to set up your Google Plus page, what can it hurt at this stage?

You can check out my page here: http://www.onlinebizu.com/googleplus.htm