The ultimate guide for Google+ Business beginners. We break down the fundamentals of Google+ so that you can fully take advantage of this valuable tool.

1. By To-Who.Com
WHY YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO BE ON
GOOGLE+

2. WHAT IS GOOGLE+?
Google+ is a social network which is owned by yes, you’ve guessed it – Google.
To join Google+ you need to have a Google account, such as Gmail.
The home page on your Google+ account contains a stream which is similar to a
Facebook feed. This consists of updates, shared content and conversations. The added
benefit to using Google+ is that you can categorize your contacts into ‘circles’ which
means you can target your posts/updates to specific groups.
Investing even a little bit of time and energy into your business page on Google+ can
mean improved local search visibility, especially for a small to medium-sized business.

3. SOME SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT GOOGLE+
Some people still are of the belief that Google+ is a ghost town. It certainly
is not, as these following facts will show you!
• The Google+ button (Google’s version of the Facebook ‘Like’ button, is
hit 5 billion times per day
• They now have 369 million active users, 90 million of them joined in the
last year.
• Improved SEO: The +1 button helps increase your Google search
rankings, so be sure to add it to your website/e-commerce sites.
• Unlike the Facebook ‘Like’ button, the +1 button is not just confined to
Google+. It is open to anyone searching on Google, this opens your
business up to a much wider consumer audience.
• Google+ is the number 1 visited social network with over 1.203 billion
visitors per month.

4. WITH GOOGLE+ YOU CAN JOIN AND CREATE
COMMUNITIES
Communities are a great way to find people who are interested in your services. By
regularly posting to your Google+ page and commented in community conversations
you can gain exposure without forcing your products onto people. You can also
position yourself as an expert in your field.
By creating your own communities you can specialize in more than one field of
expertise and target the right people for your brand.
By sharing values and concepts rather than blatantly selling your products, you can
create trust and relationships with your target audience.

5. YOU CAN CREATE EVENTS ON GOOGLE+
Events and special promotions can be marketed much more effectively
through Google+
There is a much increased level of interactivity compared to other social
network event systems. As it is a Google product your events can be linked
to your attendees Google calendar, which has a system of reminding them
of your upcoming event.
Not only can you invite individual Google+ users to your event, you can
also invite whole groups. By doing this you will reach a much more targeted
audience who may be interested in what your event has to offer. Events
can include webinars, online meetings, promotions and many other types
of events.

6. GOOGLE+ LOCAL
Google+ Local is a page that you can add that enables customer and
potential customers to find you. to find your business location easily and
also write reviews. Reviews and photos can be uploaded to the page by
your customers. Here are some of the benefits -
• It can give your business greater
credibility when real people
have left a review
• Google+ Local pages are
normally located above other
results
• Your business address and
location is located beside them
• A direct link to your business
location on a map is provided
• Customers can upload photos
to go along with their
testimonials

7. MESSAGING
Another great benefit of Google+ is the messaging system.
• You can message different groups of people rather than broadcasting your
message to all of your contacts who may not be interested in that specific post.
• You can see when people are engaged in the Hangout and message friends
anytime, even if they're not connected right now. Once they come back online
you will receive an alert.
HANGOUTS
Google Hangouts is essentially a video chat-room.
• You can turn Hangouts into a live video call with up to 10 people as opposed to
Skype, where you can currently only include 2 people in a voice call from your
computer.
• They can be used privately or publicly so anyone can join in. The public chat options
available in Hangouts are unique to the service.
• Once your hangout has been aired it can still be viewed publicly via Google+ and
You Tube, this helps to keep the conversation going.

9. GOOGLE+ IS A POWERFUL WEAPON IN YOUR SEO ARSENAL
• Your Google+ followers see your content higher up on their Google
searches. Also, If their followers have +1’d your posts this also
increases your ranking on your followers search. Therefore,
developing a strong following on Google+ means increasing your
authority through organic searches.
• Unlike Twitter and Facebook Your own Google+ posts also appear
in Google searches, with the added benefit of having your
Google+ profile picture to the left of them. These types of links are
more appealing as they have a friendly (hopefully!) human face,
so they appear much more authentic and ‘clickable’.
• Hashtags are added automatically on Google+ so there is no need
to worry about forgetting to add them. However, you can add
them manually as well, which will let you maintain bigger control
over connecting your content’s subject to the particular topic.

10. WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?
We are To-Who, based in
Northamptonshire. We work with
businesses and individuals who are
looking to create the right image,
impression and impact. They want to
do this to build up their social media
network of potential clients, supporters
and advocates.
We’d love to chat to you for you to
see how we can help your business!
0800 046 1815
tweet@to-who.com
www.to-who.com