Using Google+ To Promote Your Startup

While many sources site the benefits of a Google+ account as fairly minimal and best created with an eye on the future as opposed to now, most startups will get decent ROI from Google’s social network, given that it’s not only free, but comes with the added benefit of being part of the world’s largest search engine.

Account Setup

One of the key things to note about setting up a Google account is that while you may have a natural desire to withhold information, it actually helps you to be as full and thorough as you can with the registration form. This means images, address books, portfolios, credentials, contacts, personal details, location details and the like should all be included.

This not only allows you to connect wtih others much more easily, but it allows users to find you more easily and gain access to information they need. This is best done through Google profiles, as it allows you to get everything done in one hit. Also, remember that Google will already have information about you databased. You need to check this information, because it can very often be a point of confusion later on.

Brand Pages

Google rewards brand pages for sharing information. In essence, unless you have a strong objection to sharing a particular piece of information, make it public. The strongest start you can make is to ensure that everything is available for public indexing. I can’t say this enough, but the more information you put out there, the better your search will be.

Google+ delivers search results straight to Google Search and associated networks. This means that links and information naturally get a jump-start over other similarly weighted pages. One of the most important aspects of building your brand page is categorisation. Make sure you have got it right first time, as it can be difficult to change or remake a page once it’s indexed for one category.

Generating Engagement

Once you have your page created and are happy with the strength, it’s time to look at generating engagement. As you’ll often hear, the most important aspect here is to provide high quality content. This could mean exclusive content, such as interviews, topical content such as early reviews, or well-curated content such as targeted lists.

While regular posting (3 times per day is usually the ideal) is important, this should never be at the expense of quality. You need to frame your posts with commentary, and – because Google is explicit – ensure you have keyworded them well. The practice of SEO keywording is pretty well known by now, so that shouldn’t be a problem. The point is that you shouldn’t let the link do all the work. Add as much of your own content as possible. This is often why top 10 lists do so well.

Generating Maximum SEO Impact

As well as creating great content, you need to have half a mind on illustrating your content, as pretty much everyone including Reddit, Digg, and Google take into account the fullness of posts in indexing. Then, of course, you’re going to want to maximise the space you’re given. You can actually get pretty long form contextual content on Google+, so use it to its fullest.

Remember, the amount of link juice any content on Google+ has is purely based on the number of interactions (likes, shares, views etc…). Make sure you maximise this by eliciting interaction where possible. Don’t be content with just writing a great article, suggest that users comment, rate or otherwise interact with it, and give them a reason to. Anything from competitions to online suggestion boxes can work really well to get your followers used to commenting. After all, once they have commented once, they’re much more likely to do it again.

Real Interaction

Remember the human factor as well. If you give shout outs and recognition to others via Google+, you’ll then you’ll almost always get something in return. Other than that, the only other thing that is a must, even for the basic post, is to utilise your circles and address book (although you may want to consider this carefully, as it’s a different communication type and may not match the medium) as well.

The last key element to remember about Google+ is that while Google isn’t making too many waves in social media right now, there is a significant user base that are highly engaged and ready to take your message to the world not only across Google+, but also amongst their other social pages. Google+ arguably offers more in-depth interaction, and as such can be a much better place to find advocates and evangelists in social media, which is particularly relevant for start ups.