Hootsuite has put together Google+ for Business Best Practices in this handy guide. Learn how to use Google+ and how to create Google+ pages for your business.

1. Build Your Brand on Google+
GUIDE
Google+ and
Hootsuite

2. 2GOOGLE+ AND HOOTSUITE: BUILD YOUR BRAND ON GOOGLE+
Google+ and Hootsuite
Build Your Brand on Google+
Named the second largest active social network in the
world, just behind Facebook, Google+ has reserves of
untapped potential to help your business.
As this social network grows and gains popularity, it’s
important that businesses know how to take advantage
of what Google+ has to offer. To put it plainly, having
your brand on Google+ means that you have better
discovery, deeper engagement, increased marketing
performance across the web, and a measurable impact.
Whether you want to create a content strategy, engage
with your Google+ community, or build out your
Google+ profile, this guide will help you understand the
best practices for managing Google+. Want to learn
more? Follow along:
Google+ Best Practices
Google+ was created to improve all of your Google
experiences, like Gmail and YouTube. It acts as a central
profile that points all of your Google activity back to your
business. Assuming you already have a Google+ brand
page (if not, learn how here), the next step is to build an
effective strategy and attract an interactive community.
1. Complete your Google+ Page checklist:
FF Create a Google+ Page
FF Verify your Page
FF Enable social extensions within AdWords
FF Claim your custom URL
FF Assign Page managers
FF Add the G+ Badge to your site
FF Post exclusive content
FF Grow your follower base
FF Engage with your community
“Google+ Communities allow you to leverage a platform where your strategic
partners and customers can share best practices, answer each other’s
questions and share valuable information.”
Scott Wilder, Strategy Consultant focused on Digital Marketing and Google+ Communities

3. 3GOOGLE+ AND HOOTSUITE: BUILD YOUR BRAND ON GOOGLE+
2. Create a content strategy
‹‹ Consistently post rich content — The most
engaging content on Google+ are beautiful photos,
inspiring videos, and informative charts and
infographics. Use this rich media to catch people’s
attention and make them more likely to share and
interact with your brand.
‹‹ Create awareness and educate — Teach others
what you already know, offer help, align your brand
with other specialists, and help spread your insight
and opinion. For example: send out weekly industry
facts or tips and tricks which will in turn encourage
your followers to stay tuned in to your updates.
‹‹ Target your audience — When adding people to
Google+, you can choose what “circle” to put them
in. Segment your audience into these different
circles and deliver content that would be interesting
to or relevant for these groups. For example, your
business can create a circle for Brand Ambassadors
and post content you would like help amplifying to
this circle.
3. Create Google+ circles
‹‹ Group circles based on needs — With Google+
circles you can create circles that match your real life.
For example your business can create a customer
circle, competitor circle, employee circle, or industry
circle.
‹‹ Join relevant conversations — Also with Google+
circles, you can easily manage whose updates you
see and choose who you’d like to share with. You
can broadcast to the world, or keep your
conversations private.
The Catlin Seaview Survey, a major
scientific study of The Great Barrier Reef, uses
Google+ Hangouts to share their underwater
expeditions live.
4. Engage with your Google+ community
‹‹ Take advantage of Google+ Hangouts — Hangouts
are an excellent way for you to connect internally
with your employees or externally with your
customers. Internally, you could host a team building
or onboarding activity, while externally, you could
host a session to explain a part of your product or
lend expertise.
‹‹ Start discussions — Join Google+ communities
based on your interests or industry. Once you have
joined these communities, join discussions and
share industry knowledge. Be sure to add substance
to your interactions and not just overwhelm your
communities with mentions of your brand.
“By leveraging the Circles functionality, you can extend your network and
segment and send customized messages to different groups of users. Once
you have, you can then invite these segments into relevant communities.”
Scott Wilder, Strategy Consultant focused on Digital Marketing and Google+ Communities

4. 4GOOGLE+ AND HOOTSUITE: BUILD YOUR BRAND ON GOOGLE+
Hootsuite and Google+
Integrate your Google+ Page with Hootsuite, and take
advantage of Hootsuite’s capabilities with social
engagement, measurement, collaboration, and security.
Google+ Pages in the Hootsuite dashboard gives brands
access to:
‹‹ Targeted publishing with circles — Tailor your
messaging to specific audience segments and
post updates to selected circles. Hootsuite
Permissions allow Team Members to select whether
a post will appear public, or whether it will post to
a specific circle.
Advanced circle management — Build out your
Google+ Page presence using Hootsuite Teams’
collaborative workflow. Use Teams to assign messages
and follow up. For easy monitoring, you can also create
custom keyword searches within public posts and
content streams.
“By leveraging the Circles
functionality, you can extend
your network and segment and
send customized messages to
different groups of users. Once
you have, you can then invite
these segments into relevant
communities.”
Scott Wilder,
Strategy Consultant focused on Digital Marketing and Google+
Communities
Resources
Now that we have given you an overview of
the Google+ best practices with Hootsuite, we
have more resources to help you continue your
learning.
To gain insight on creating a social media strategy,
watch this webinar.
For more comprehensive, on-demand training
enroll in Hootsuite University at
learn.Hootsuite.com.

5. 5GOOGLE+ AND HOOTSUITE: BUILD YOUR BRAND ON GOOGLE+
How to Set Up Your Google+ Page
Watch this HSU video on how to set up your Google+ Page * Currently, Hootsuite offers Google+ pages
To add Google+ Pages:
‹‹ Access your profile from the side menu
‹‹ Select + Add a Social Network under My Social
Networks.
‹‹ Select Google+ from the sidebar menu
‹‹ Click connect with Google+ and follow the prompts
‹‹ Within your new Google+ tab, you can add a Home
Stream, Sent Messages stream, Scheduled Messages
stream, and streams for your individual circles
To learn more about your Hootsuite dashboard,
join our free Social Media Coach webinars:
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