5 Easy Tips to Kickstart a Google Business Page

Google plus local business page effects small business's marketing in a positive way. When you create Google+ business page, you increase the chances of getting highly targeted visitors from Google's organic search results. You should pay attention to this strategy as it brings your business to the top as far as Google searches are concerned. Increasing authority and influence of your business and adding directions to your brand are benefits that you will not want to miss. You don't need a web designer to create a professional Google Plus business page. It is DIY process that can take only a few minutes to complete. This article highlights five easy Tips to Kickstart a Google Business Page.

#1 Verify Your Google Business Listing

The next step after creating a Google+ business page is to verify your business information. Any update that you include on your Google+ business profile such as description, contact details, operating hours or photos appears on the Google Maps and other Google properties. Before you add your local business, make sure meets the given Google guidelines

#2 Make Your Google Business Page Visually Appealing

You should put in extra effort to make sure your Google Business page is visually appealing. You can achieve this by adding appropriate branding information such as informative videos and captivating cover images. If you are running a boutique business, you can add beautiful behind-the-scenes photos on the cover section. If you are running a bakery business, you can add captivating photos of daily specials to draw in customers. You can also include external links to your social media sites to help improve your Google Search ranking.

#3 Using Hashtags Frequently and Strategically

Just like Twitter, Google Plus also has an open posting environment that supports the usage of hashtags. You can check things that are trending in your local areas under "What's Hot." In any trending hashtag, you can start your conversation or comment of the active conversations. As an added advantage, these hashtags also appear in Google searches. Additionally, when visitors search for your business, Google retrieves the recent Google+ post that you made on your page.

#4 Take Advantage of Gifs

Optimising Google business page also require you to take advantage of Gifs. However stupid they may look, Gifs are considered Google plus gold. In addition to allowing Gifs to play automatically on your page, Google Plus also offers a tool that collects your photo's to create Gifs for them. Engaging and funny Gifs not only adds beauty but also adds interest to the posts being shared. Unlike other social media business platforms, Google Plus business page is the only medium that plays gifs automatically. So you will need to utilize this feature.

#5 Continue Sharing Images

Make sure you include a high-quality, interesting and relevant photo in your post. Posts with images perform well compared to text-only posts. If you have other social media pages, you will find that these same rules apply. You can use an image that encourages your audience to click. Post interesting images and infographics with helpful information and share them on your other social media sites. One of the brands that understand how to use images on their social media platforms including Google Plus is the National Geographic.

About the Author : Tully Rickets is a writer with interests in healthy living and marketing. When he's not blogging about healthy behaviors, he enjoys researching ideas for his marketing website from many blogs and websites.

Google Fiber: The Next Change in Marketing Technology

Techcrunch recently featured an article that mentions the test Google has been running on a limited scale with Google Fiber.  The first time I read about Google entry into the cable market, I got a knot in my stomach.  Personally it's a little too "big brother" for me, but the fact that they are able to transmit data almost 100 times faster than what we have now was pretty exciting to say the least.  Now the coverage has moved from speed and clarity to programming.

The most recent article from Techcrunch says, "When Google first announced the details of its Kansas City fiber rollout, one of the knocks against it was that its channel lineup was a little thin. While it had struck deals to bring video subscribers more than 116 channels, at the time of its announcement, it was missing some notable channels — stuff like ESPN, Disney, AMC, TBS, TNT, and HBO.

Today, Google announced it has also added content from Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting. The Turner deal will provide channels like Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, CNN en Español, CNN International, HLN, hTV, infinito, TBS, TCM: Turner Classic Movies, TNT, and truTV. That brings Google almost on the same playing field with other distributors.  Currently Google is charging one hundred and twenty bucks a month for TV and 1Gbps broadband which is inline with other offerings."

This shift, in my opinion means a couple of things.  The first is that the fiber itself, and the fact that you'll be able to stream shows, movies, data, etc. extremely fast is no longer the marketing objective.  Rather, Google is going after a greater share of eyeballs offline.  Think about it.  If they have your attention for advertising online and offline, they not only generate billions more, but they own the consumer.

I don't know about you but this type of strategy makes me uncomfortable.  Knowing that data and other types of zeros and ones can be transmitted faster and in greater quantity is enough for impatient individuals like myself.  However, taking a greater share of my time - at work or play - is purely one sided.

If Google wants to own more of my time, they need to provide something of value.  Will they learn my viewing habits and skip commercials?  I think not.  Unfortunately its still all about the advertising.  What do you think?  Will marketing change based on this type of enhancement or are we just seeing more of the same?

Google Webmaster Tools

As someone who's been building and working on websites for more than a decade, I continue to focus on the basics.  In fact, what I consider the basics are still not being used by a large majority of webmaster or individuals who are running online businesses.

Google Webmaster Tools doesn't cost anything yet provides the most valuable information that anyone could ever want to their website or blog.  I recently accessed my account to find a number of messages from Google that indicated various aspects of my web pages that needed to be addressed.

Insider access
To be successful online, you need to analyze and track your website from a number of different perspectives.  Using tools like Google Webmaster Tools is essential for gaining the type of insight required for excelling online.  You see, having Google tell you how they are viewing your website is the most powerful data you can have.  But you have to act on it...

In fact, this weekend I spent a number of hours implementing changes on my site based on the recommendations included in Google Webmaster Tools.  So much so that my fingers hurt!  However, I know without  doubt that implementing changes to resolve so called "errors" will give me lots of points towards optimization the next time that Google crawls my site.

Although many website owners understand the value of implementing  or updating their site based on Google recommendations, it never ceases to amaze me how many don't make the necessary changes to improve their rankings.

Since the Penguin update and even the previous update (Panda), responding to Google's algorithmic changes only continue to grow in importance.  Using the tools provided by Google is a great starting place.

After you've made updates
I'm going to assume that after reading this post you're going to verify your site and review the analysis via Google Webmaster Tools.  Once you do so and make the necessary changes to your site - this could take a number of days, give Google the chance to crawl your site again and update your stats.  Fix any remaining errors and build from there.

Google Webmaster Tools isn't the only game in town.  Once you've made all of the necessary changes, I recommend that you focus on W3C errors and speeding up your website - two essential optimization factors.  Once you've fixed all of the on-page factors, it's time to start your link building campaign.

The concept of link building requires a completely separate post.  However, I will mention that link building must be done steadily over time and you should focus on quantity over quality.  Since the Penguin update it really is important to focus on your anchor text profile and link sources.  

If you haven't accessed Google Webmaster Tools, I encourage you to do so now.  For those who already have an account, check it frequently to see how Google is viewing your website. 

Site Load Speed and San Diego SEO

I'm sure you're thinking... "What does site load speed and my search engine rankings have in common?"  Well, the answer is actually related to Google Analytics and site monitoring.  As a successful webmaster with a ton of traffic, I've known for a long time that site load speed is a fundamental component of Google rankings.  In fact, it's been one of the most importants aspect of rankings for many years.

However, Google has not always been vocal about the weight or importance of site load speed as a factor within their algorithm.  I believe this is largely due to the importance of site load speed as a ranking factor.  Admitting just how important it is would be like showing their cards at the table.  

Now that the Google algorithm has been impacted by so many changes (Google caffeine, Instant, Panda, etc.), I believe they are ready to share what they know.  My friends at a well-known San Diego SEO firm have been tracking the importance of site load speed with a number of their clients over an extended period of time and have seen significant improvements in search results when sites render more quickly. 

They've used this experience to build sites like www.rankmywebsite.net to leverage their know-how and help small business owners succeed online. Using real data is truly the only way to see the impact of this ranking factor and these guys are industry experts who know what works because they’re testing around the clock.

So, how does this affect your site? Two words: Google Analytics.  Eight out of ten of the world’s leading sites run it and if it’s free. Google Analytics provides invaluable insight by measuring every metric imaginable and delivering the data in a format that’s easy to understand. Recently, Google added Site Load Speed to the analytics category available through your account.  The video in this post will teach you to access this information and make use of it for analyzing the speed of your site.  A good measuring stick for site speed is to see how your site measures up against the frontrunners in your niche, which this software does for free (and pretty accurately). The faster your site loads in comparison to competing sites, the greater weight Google will give your site.

Finally, an important caveat to always consider when trying to improve your website visibility is that Google will never publish their proprietary formula for delivering search results; if they did, they would reveal the secrets that make their search results so accurate and most of what you’d see would be spam or low quality content. The best determinant of what works is simply testing everything you do. Keeping good records and regularly analyzing your on-site and off-site search engine optimization efforts will pay dividends that far outweigh the extra time it takes to do so.