What Can Google+ Do For You? - Part 4 (small business)

Welcome to the final part (part 4) of my series on how G+ can benefit you, the blogger.  The first 3 parts of this series can be found below.

Part 1 (introduction to G+ and profile development)

Part 2 (understanding circles)

Part 3 (blogger benefits - SEO and +1)

Today's post will center around small businesses, such as Etsy or Storenvy shops and privately owned internet shops or boutiques.  As I mentioned in previous posts, you have the option of making your business a part of your personal G+ profile or creating a separate page for your business.  More information about this can be found in this Google article.

Most of the information that I provided in Part 3 of this series, about SEO and +1, will also greatly benefit the small business owner.  Remember, the more your G+ business page is recommended or +1'd (liked) by others, the greater the impact on your business' SEO (search engine optimization).

All of this can be influenced by 3 things:

1.  Profile and header image.  Choose a profile picture that represents your business logo or a personal picture of you.  Choose a cover picture to promote your business or product.  You're not restricted from using promotional messages (like on Facebook) so be creative.  For example, showcase a product or include your web address and logo.

2.  G+ circles are very important tools in business.  Use them to categorize potential customers, business associates, marketing sites, etc.  Remember, frequent interaction with people in your circles will increase your business' name recognition and can indirectly increase it's SEO.  

Use your business' circles for marketing and messaging.  For example, if your shop has a sale on a particular item or items, you can announce this to your circles (followers).  And...you can choose which circle(s) will get the message.

3.  G+ events (online invitations) is another useful G+ tool in business.  Events allows you to invite people inside your circles (and even non-G+ users) to a certain event, sale or promotion that your business is having.  Even the events invitation has images that you can choose to promote your product or business ventures.  I referred to G+ events in Part 3 of this series and provided an example of it's use.

I want to show you an example of how a shop owner set up her G+ page.  She is Janelle of Emmaline Bags and I love the way she has presented herself and her business in her G+ "about" page.

In Part 1 of this series, I emphasized how important first impressions are and how you can design your "hover information" to invite people to view your page.  People will make a decision on whether or not they want to visit your page based on what they see....their first impression.  

For an example of a good way to do this, I will show you what Janelle's first impression, hover info. looks like.

If you hover your mouse over Janelle's profile picture or name anywhere on G+, this is what you will see.  I placed red numbers in the picture so I could make a few comments about it.

1.  Janelle chose to use her name and a picture of herself for this page.  This works great because it appears more personal and there is an instant connection between her name and her product.  This design is optional.  You can also choose to use a separate business page using a business name and/or logo for the profile picture.  The choice is up to you.

2.  There is a "contact me" icon at the top of her page (easily found) that allows the visitor to instantly leave a message for Janelle.  When you click on the icon, a window pops up that looks like this:

3.  The cover photo tells all....the business name, product info and two sample pictures of the product.  And the business is associated with it's owner by having a personal profile picture.

4.  The snippet of information under the profile picture gives a quick summary of Janelle and her business.

Next is Janelle's "About" page.  Again, I'll make a few comments corresponding to the red numbers.

ignore the little green check marks and ? symbol...that's
my computer's internet security symbol (I forgot to remove it!)

1.  Her introduction is a concise summary of who she is and what she does with a link to her business website.  Make the introduction short (2-3 sentences) and include only important information.  If it's too long, people will skip it.

2.  The information in the "employment" and "education" section are shown underneath her profile picture.  Again, keep it short and concise....otherwise people won't take time to read it.

3. Her email address is included on this page and is easily found.

4.  Links to her shop, blog and social media sites are listed with clickable links to each.  This is very important.

In my opinion, Janelle and her business are well represented by her profile picture, cover photo and her "about" page.  Now all she needs to do is fill her circles.  That leads me to how she can do it.....

One week from today, on August 4th, I will be participating in a multi-hosted G+ Blog Hop.  We are going to ask that everyone link up their G+ profile page (personal and/or business) so that bloggers/sm. business owners can share information and "circle" each other.

I hope that you can join us.  If you haven't done so already, spruce up your profile and cover photo and be sure to include a snippet of information about you or your business underneath your profile picture.  That will be what people see when they click on your link at the party.  Make a good first impression so you will make lots of new friends!

As I've said before, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.  You can leave a message in the comment section at the end of this post or email me at shasta(dot)intheoldroad(at)gmail(dot)com.

Linking to:

Natasha In Oz's Say G'Day Saturday
Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap Up Party
Too Much Time's Get Schooled Saturday
Serenity You's Serenity Saturday