On November 7th, Google finally released their version of Facebook fan pages, the Google+ business page. This new feature allows businesses and brands to create a page on the growing social network. With over 40 million user accounts on Google+, and that number growing rather quickly, this new feature allows businesses to tap into a new and different social marketplace.
Google is trying very hard to integrate their social network very tightly with their existing product set. One way of accomplishing this is with “Direct Connect”. If you are doing a keyword search on Google, try putting a + symbol before the term you are searching for. This search will bring the end-user directly to the brands Google+ page, assuming they have one and the code has been integrated onto their website. Another way Google is integrating Google+ with their products is by ranking Google+ Pages. This will allow business and personal profiles to have a presence on search engines now, which like Facebook can have an impact on accessibility and exposure.
We have read some not-so-flattering blog entries from individuals who are frustrated with the process of creating Google+ pages. Sure, some kinks will need to be worked out as this network is in it’s infancy. For example, you cannot create vanity urls yet, so your Google+ business page url would have a long numerical string, which isn’t so appealing. Also, there are no direct analytic available so you can see whats going on on your page, yet. Key here is that these frustrations will be temporary as the internet giant works out these kinks.
As the network evolves, there is no question inquiries about custom Google+ page design will flood in. Right now, there is little information available about how businesses will be able to customize their Google+ business profile in the future. As is the case with custom Facebook fan pages, the rules have changed on the fly, making it difficult to determine what the next move with be.