It’s true, all the details & specifics about how much of an impact Google+ Pages will have in the SERPs have yet to be discovered, but if there’s anything Google has told us in the past, it’s that they’re all in with Google+. When Google released the +1 buttons, they weren’t successful from the very beginning, but over time as people saw the impact they would have in terms of search, brands caught on and eventually people caught on. The same thing happened for Google+ profiles; from the moment you add someone to your circles, they have a huge impact on what comes up in the search results, and as Google+ Pages progress & communities are built around them, they’ll have the same (if not much greater) impact.
Because there are a few awesome chrome extensions to post to Twitter & Facebook right from your Google+ dashboard, by no means are you abandoning the two top dogs in social media. Crossrider’s chrome extensions for both Twitter & Facebook have made it easy for social media gurus to manage all 3 in one place. Once you create your Page, it’s time to start building a community around it.
4 Ways to build a community around your page
Tell your existing community
You know those two Facebook & Twitter accounts you’ve been creating an awesome community around? Use them to give a shout out to you’re fans & followers to make sure they find you in this new place. Because they’re already connected, there’s no reason why they wouldn’t add your page to their circles on Google+.
Get the badge
If you haven’t seen it, Google+ has an awesome badge that you can display on your website. You NEED to display this on your site because by adding a snippet of code to your header you make your page the official Google+ page of your website. Think of it like the author snippet Google+ uses for individual profiles, but in this case, for brands & websites.
Get involved with other Pages
Because everyone’s in this frenzy to put up their own G+ Page, make sure you add all of them to your circles & drop a comment whenever they post. Make sure you tell them that if they need any help with anything that you’ll help them to the best of your ability. Even though you might be in the same boat because of how new this is, just by telling them you’re there to help can really rub off in a great way. Make sure to add all relevant G+ Pages to your circles, and if a Page posts about something that interests you, make sure you do them a favor by posting about it on your G+ page too.
The best way to think about this interaction is by thinking of it like reciprocal linking & twitter. For reciprocal linking, think of it as “I’ll rub your back if you rub mine” by adding them to your circles & asking if they’d do the same. For twitter, think of it like tweeting about all the awesome relevant content & updates in your niche, but instead you’re doing it on G+.
Ask Friends & Family to build social proof
Outside of Search Engine Land’s G+ page (7,000+ followers already!), almost no other page has built up a huge number of followers, so if you’re number of followers is even above 100, that’s awesome. One of the best ways to get this initial number is through asking your existing communities to add you like I said before; once you’ve done that, ask all of your friends & family through your personal Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ accounts to add you. Just by saying something like “If you could give me 10 seconds of your time by adding my G+ Page to your circles, it would make a HUGE difference!” people will take notice and do it.
Please, take my advice and get going now. You have no time to waste; beating your competitors to this new social space can be one of the best things you can do, and by establishing yourself as an authority in the G+ environment, you not only build another great community for your followers & fans to interact on, but you directly influence the SERPs.
Thanks for reading!
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