by Cara Callaghan, 25th November 2011
Google announced the launch of Google+ for business on the 7th of November. This collection of tools and products will help hotels become closer to their customers online. At the heart of this is Google+ Pages, your hotel's identity on Google+.
Below are just a few of the ways that Google+ could help hotels make lasting connections online with their customers:
•
Enjoy real conversations with the right people: Hold Hangouts to chat with customers face-to-face and use Circles to share specific messages with specific groups of followers.
•
Inspire your existing customers to recommend you: With Pages people can now recommend a brand, not just individual ads or sites ,to their friends - helping your hotels' +1’s add up faster.
•
Increase the performance of your ads: +1's surface recommendations in search and display ads driving better performance and conversions.
•
Across all of Google: Your +1's not only reach the 40 million users of Google+, but all the users who come to Google every day.
How do I get started?
1.
Join Google+ as a user if you have not done so already at https://plus.google.com
2.
Then create your Google+ Page in minutes by following the instructions below. You’ll just need some images and a brief description. Check out the ‘Getting started guide’.
3.
Get inspired by circling key Google Pages: Google+ Your Business, Google+, YouTube, and Think.
Google Places pages and Google+ Pages must be managed separately. So you will still need to set this up if you already have a local business listing on Google Maps as they are entirely separate.
Creating Your Google+ Page
1.
Once you gain access at https://plus.google.com you’ll be asked to create a page in one of five categories:
1 -
Local business or place (best option for hotels to choose)
2 -
Product or brand
3 -
Company, institution or organization
4 -
Arts, entertainment or sports
5 -
Other
2.
You will then be asked for your phone number to locate your business and claim the listing.
3.
The next step is to confirm your info – address, category etc and click ‘Create’ to get your page set up.
Other Important Points to Note:
1.
It’s important to note that whoever creates the page initially will also be the page administrator. No one else will be able to admin your hotel's Page after, or at least for now. The Page cannot be transferred to someone else. It is likely more changes will follow in this area.
2.
Unlike Facebook, there are not "vanity" URLs yet available that use a business name rather than a long string of number.
3.
Google+ works the same as Facebook in that when you access your business account via your personal log in you can choose whether you want to act as yourself or the business Page.
4.
Google is launching a new icon to encourage business Pages to be followed and this is promised to be coming soon.
To follow Avvio on Google+ click here
