posted by Stijn Vogels on New way of...

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Brand pages for Google+ have finally arrived. In this article we will show you how to create a page for your brand, and share our first impressions after a week of use. Keep in mind that the platform is still young and under development.

When Google launched their social network in June 2011, an immediate battle for precious invites ensued. Companies and brands were left a bit out in the cold. Brand pages was a much-requested feature and Google commented that their were working on it.

So now the moment has finally arrived where we can all setup a page for our own brand.

Beware: shared account?

A quick word of advice before you begin. Keep in mind that it is not yet possible to have multiple people administrate a single brand page. If it is just you managing the brand, you’ll be fine if you use your personal account for the setup. However, if you plan to have multiple people manage your account, you will have to agree on a single account and login — for now.

Setup procedure

1. First things first: click the big, blue Create button on to Google.com/+/business.

2. You will be presented with a category selection screen where you can indicate the type of brand or business you are running. At the moment you can choose from either: Local business or place; Product or brand; Company, institution or organization; Arts, entertainment or sports; and “Other”.

3. After selecting your category, you can add your info. Within this selected category, you can further specify a sub-category. Lastly, if you are running a business aimed at adults, you can indicate the type of content you will be sharing on your page.

4. The next step lets you add even more information: you can add a logo and tagline describing your missions statement. Adding a good logo and tagline is crucial, as they will be displayed in search results for your brand name.

5. Be sure to proofread your tagline one more time. Once you’re done, you can finish the setup and after a brief wait your page will be created. Here is the Cleverwood page we setup for ourselves. Be sure to post a first message, so the fans you invite will have something to read, share and talk about.

Our first impressions

For now the abilities seems to be pretty basic still. Google seems to be treading very carefully in these (for them) uncharted territories. It would have been easy to just copy everything Facebook does, but Larry Page & Co seem to be following a different course.

The search giant is said to be working on additional features such as deeper analytics, integration with AdWords and other Google products. The +1 button on ads has already appeared. We’ll have to wait and see what else they come up with.

Meanwhile, a lot of Belgian companies are already taking their first steps in Google+ with the creating of their company page. For those who would like to follow the example of early adopters, be sure to check this list of Belgian companies with a Google+ page.

Tags: brand, Google, Google Plus, social media, Stijn Vogels