Do you have to have a Google+ profile page for a person before you can build a Google+ brand page?
-
There was some debate at MozCon 2012 about this issue. I have my personal Google+ page which I didn't want attached to the brand of one of the sites I manage. I saw no other way to create a new Google+ page for this brand except to create a new profile under a different gmail account. The problem is, I had to put in my personal name to create the profile (you can't put in a business name, Google won't accept it), so now I have two "Dana Tan" author pages in Google+, the second one is where I built the page for this separate business "Celebrate Communion." Unfortunately, this has muddied the waters because people are following me in both places (it's fragmented my circles). I would like to add customers who are already on Google+ to my business pages circles, but the business page won't do it.
Is it possible to build a Google+ business page without all of this brand confusion? If so, can you send me directions? I have found nothing online that says you don't need a profile to do a brand page.
Also, once the page is built, what is the best way for me to reach out to customers with google accounts? I don't see a good way to do that on businesses pages either. On my profile page I can load all the emails into my contacts list, but then those contacts can only be added to my profile page and not the brand page.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Dana
-
How does one "associate" a personal profile with a company profile? As a contributor to that site? What about the Betty Crocker approach, a company persona Google+ account that is run by whoever is currently staffed to do so?
-
Hi Danny,
I just watched an interview posted by Chris Goward (Wider Funnel) with Janet Driscoll Miller (Search Mojo) about how to best set up Google+ businesses pages without having the issues I mention above. I included a transcript where Janet describes in detail how best to achieve the separation between brand and personal pages. I also included my own "summary" of how to do it in three steps (see the very bottom post in this thread). Did I get it right? Thanks so much for your help,
Dana
-
Aha! I believe I have found the answer to this question. Thanks goes to Chris Goward of Wider Funnel Marketing. He interviewed Janet Driscoll Miller at SMX West after her presentation on Google+ and SEO
Here is the excerpt that answered my question about Google+, personal Gmail accounts, Google+ pages for businesses and branding:
"The administration of those pages can be tricky, because it's not exactly like Facebook pages. People expect it to be like Facebook and it's not. You can have multiple administrators but there's still one owner. So, for instance, if you're the business owner, you should go in and do it, so it's under your email address and you always have the ultimate control. So make sure that the person you're giving it to, that either it's an email address that multiple people can get to or that the owner of the company could. The other challenge is that most people use their Gmail account to sign up. Well, the problem is, if I'm the social adminstrator and I leave the company and I used my Gmail address to set up the page, I can never transfer that Gmail, necessarily. So you want to try...you can set up unique profiles, with your own domain name. So I like to recommend that, just because I feel like it's safer for companies."
So here's the best way to set up a Google+ page for business:
1. Have a business owner create the account using a Gmail username related to the business or brand, something like this:
2. Don't use a gmail account as the email address in the sign up process. Use an email account that is a general email address at your company that multiple people could have access to if necessary., something like this
GooglePlusPage@MyBrandName.com
3. Have your social adminstrator or social media manager and team members associate their Google+ profiles with the core Google+ page set up by the owner. That way, if they change positions or leave the company, they can be disassociated with the business page, but maintain their personal profile as they move on to something else.
-
Hi Keri,
I have reached out to Google for an answer to this question. I asked that the post something both in the Google forums and also here. We'll see how far I get
Dana
-
If you can figure out how to get an answer from Google, especially on an SEOmoz forum, we would love to know.
-
I still haven't received a truly complete, detailed answer to this question. I would really like to hear from Google. Anyone have additional info?
-
Thanks very much Danny. Yes, I understand that I didn't necessarily need to create a separate Google account for the brand page, but to keep my personal brand separate from the Celebrate Communion site's brand was my goal.
So it sounds like I really am stuck having two Google+ accounts, both under my name, but attached to different brands.
My concern is that I manage multiple sites.Our main site, CCI Solutions needs a Google+ page. I don't want to open a third "Dana Tan" Google profile just so I can create their Google+ page. How do agencies set up Google+ pages for their clients? Whose Google account do they attach the business page to?
-
You have to have a Google+ personal account to make a brand page, but brand pages don't have to have their own account.
Start here:
http://www.google.com/+/business/After you've made the page, there's no way to transfer over people from other personal pages that I know of. But you can point people there to follow you at the new location.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Organic Brand Clicks/Traffic Drop - Why?
Hi Moz Community, I've been reviewing Search Console and have been noticing that there has been a consistent drop in brand clicks. The overall number of keywords (especially for the top 2 pages) have been increasing, according to SEMRUSH, however, traffic and sales are still in decline. There are no algorithmic and manual penalties, in addition, paid search activity has been increasing in the leadup to Christmas. Has anyone experienced this and potentially advise how to diagnose and resolve this issue?
Branding | | rec1230 -
LinkedIn Versus Google Adwords for B to B Advertising
Does anyone have experience with LinkedIn and Google Adwords for B+B advertising? I own a commercial real estate agency in Manhattan. We aim to generate qualified leads of business tenants seeking to rent office or loft space. The advertising is not meant to build an image or branding. Approximate total adverting budget is $3,000-$5,000/month. LinkedIn appears to have the advantage in being able to target a particular demographic (industry, geography, job function, size of company). But I wonder if it is not geared towards branding rather than generating warm leads. In terms of cost and quality of leads does anyone have insight as to how these two platforms compare? Thanks, Alan Rosinsky
Branding | | Kingalan11 -
Branding-Advantages of New Domain
Our current domain (www.nyc-officespace-leader.com) is spammy, using 2 hyphens and several keywords. So we are planning on migrating to a new domain. Our company is Metro Manhattan Office Space, Inc.. We are Manhattan commercial real estate brokers specializing in office and commercial leasing. For 5 years we have owned an alternative domain but never migrated the site to it. The alternative domain is www.metro-manhattan.com. But I am not sure it is a good choice since it contains one hyphen. Any suggestions for creating a strong URL for rebranding? It appears the really good names are already taken. Thanks, Alan
Branding | | Kingalan10 -
High authority brand expanding product line, domain question
Hi MOZers, I've been given a handy little domain puzzle to deal with and would love insight from the community. Here's the situation: We're retailers of one specific, big, nationally known product. Let's pretend it's the Snuggee (IT'S NOT). People search for it and buy it from our site, or from Amazon or other retailers that we distribute it to. We're about to expand to carry a bunch of related, but different products - so from a one-product brand to 5 or 6 different items, relating to different keyword searches. Imagine Snuggee people want to start selling a whole bunch of products that solve the same needs of warming the front of your body and making you look silly. The owners want to change the main domain from [specific product] to [name similar to specific product, but is more general]. What concerns me is how to handle the fame of the branded product in terms of domain names. Current domain, based on that product, has a ton of links and a decent age. Owners are thinking to redirect everything to fresh new unestablished domain. While I know 301s will pass most link value, it will also be a home page that will be about a bunch of products - not just that main known one. In fact, we're considering making a URL for each product as landing page, of which old famous product would be one of 5 or 6 pages. Two main options we're considering right now: Keep old domain as a doorway page featuring just old product, with same look and feel, and from which any links would point to the new domain. Try to keep this as ranking for top result for this search, which should be easy. Unify everything under new domain, with old product being featured on a separate page / subdirectory. Hope that new home page still can rank pretty well for our old product, even though it will be talking about other products now as well. What we'd stand to lose would be the SERP for old products featuring too many big box retailers that sell our stuff and take a chunk out of our margins. The goal is to help us become known for many things, while still being always the best search result for what we're already known for. Which of those two options seem best, or is there another I'm missing altogether? Thank you!
Branding | | advancedSemiotics0 -
Google + Circles
This question is so elementary, I'm almost embarrassed to ask it. I am having trouble directing potential followers/friends to Circle us on our Google+ business page. People add to my personal profile page instead, the result of which, i am not building up Circles for my business while I am building my personal profile which i don't care about. I have made personal requests, used our logo on my personal page header saying "Gina Fiedel representing (business name)" and "Visit our Google+ business page", etc. I feel like I'm missing something. Has anyone found any sort of magic bullet for this? Thanks!!
Branding | | gfiedel0 -
Protecting Your Domain/Brand
Hi All, We've registered our domain with register.com they will not all us to buy .ca unless we reside in canada, same fro uk. Has anyone run into this problem? I wouldnt want someone to snatch it up and use it to their advantage.
Branding | | TP_Marketing0 -
Benefits of +1ing a Sub Page vs. Root Page
Say I'm on Nike and I +1 a soccer shoe page...does the Nike root page rank higher/for more terms for my google+ followers or would just the soccer shoe page?
Branding | | Hakkasan0 -
Do you buy keyword strong domains around your brand?
Do you buy keyword domains around your brand? If so do you do this for future use or for redirecting to a sub domain off your core site or for other reasons?
Branding | | charlesgrimm0