Google Hangouts: international collaborative working.
I have had a very busy few weeks. Monday saw the launch of my new company, FireCask, a digital marketing agency that specialises in WordPress and Creative Content amongst other things. The company was formed through many hours of videoconferencing, most of it being done through Google+ Hangouts (you can read more about our launch here). Forming a company with 4 directors, 2 of which reside in the UK and the other 2 in Israel is a hard task but this made the process a lot smoother. We chose Google+ as our choice of videoconferencing. In this post I will write about the features we used that can also help you with your business. Starting a Google+ Hangout That’s easy enough – simply go to https://plus.google.com/hangouts and click on “start hangout”: This will open a new window. You can choose from quite a few options. The top option lets you choose people you want to hang out with. You can make it public for all to join (limited to 10 people at a time) or just invite fellow colleagues into a private hangout: There is also another cool feature here – enabling hangouts on air. This option lets your hangout become a live feed within your YouTube channel (you will need to authorise the connection to your YouTube account). This feature is great if you want to, for example, have you and 2 other people broadcast a live videocast for everyone to see without the need for a Google+ account or the need to join the hangout itself. With this, unlimited people can tune in! The Hangout Window Once you’ve set up your hangout you will be welcomed with this screen as you wait for others to join: Once someone has joined you will see the other person appear in the main window, as well as all the other people who join in. Say hello to Anna! Once more people join the hangout they will appear alongside the bottom. Whoever is speaking (or outputting the most noise) will appear in the main area, swapping as people speak so that you don’t have to worry about finding which person is speaking. This can be changed by simply clicking one of the invitee thumbnails. You can also mute yourself by audio or video should you need to. Screensharing Screensharing can be enabled by clicking the button within the top navigation menu of the hangout itself. You can select the specific window you want to share from a list. Once you do this your webcam will turn off and be replaced by the window you selected. Here Anna has shared the 123 Blog on her screen: This feature was fantastic when we shared web design concepts, presentations and reports and other things that were inconvenient to share between a few people in real time. Google Docs This was amazing for us. Once we were really getting serious and working on how 2 companies would merge we needed to be able to, between the 4 of us, separately edit one spreadsheet without overlap or losing any data. This would have been an extremely hard task if done through any other means. Google Docs (which is currently turning into a product called “Google Drive”) has been around for a while but with the Google Docs functionality within the hangout itself (also in the top navigation menu) it made life a lot easier. You can select a number of documents from within your Google Docs account which will appear in the left sidebar. Once the documents were open it was output into the main window and all 4 of us could edit the document as we saw fit whilst all being able to chat to each other at the same time: Here you will notice on the left (next to row 2) that there are 2 documents in the list and the spreadsheet is open with a text document underneath. All 4 of us edited the 2 documents in real time as we chatted to each other about what we were doing. This simplified so many things for us so that collaborative working such as this became a doddle, and we didn’t have to send each other annoying revisions of the same document. One last thing – Google Effects If you’ve been in the hangout for an hour or two you may want to make it a little more humourous. In this case, click the Google Effects button in the top navigation menu. This feature is a fun addition to hangouts. You can choose from a selection of different headgear, glass and facial hair. Once you add them they stick to your face! For me this is fantastic technology as the effects follow you as you move around. Here I am wearing some geeky specs and a Google headband while Anna tries on some devil horns for size: Google hangouts have many options, and there are more you can use within Google Apps. Why not start a hangout now!
Why You Need to Get to Grips with Google+ Local
You’ve heard all the furore about Google’s (relatively) new social platform, your online marketing manager or agency has explained the implications for search, and your business now has a page on the network; it’s time to start making the most of the features it offers. One of these features is Google+ Local, a new combination of local and social search, and Google’s replacement for their old Places pages. If you haven’t already got a Google+ Local page, it’s a good time to get to grips with the service. If you have, now’s the time to revisit it and make sure you’re using it to its fullest potential. Let’s start with the basics… What is Google+ Local? Google+ Local is the new name (and face) for Google’s location-based search service. Basically, it’s the page that appears when a user clicks on a Google Maps result for your business: A user clicks on ‘more info’ and is greeted with: Key Features: What’s new? Well, for a start Google+ Local pages are a lot more aesthetically pleasing than the old, static, Places pages. Google+ Local also brings us: The integration of local search and Google’s social hub: The introduction of the Zagat reviews system, meaning place scores are calculated on a 30-point scale based on user reviews. A new ‘circles’ feature, allowing you to filter out local reviews and recommendations from people in your circles. Why is it important? Aside from the obvious answer (this is a route to your business for potential customers and clients and therefore needs to be maintained), it’s important to have a Google+ Local page if you want to take advantage of local search. As more and more people use smartphones and tablets to search on the go, which will typically share the user’s location with Google as standard, location-based search and the results it delivers will become increasingly important for businesses. Statistics already show that smartphone sales overtook PC sales last year (two years earlier than expected) and forecasts predict that in three years time, tablet sales will be bigger than PC sales. Your Google+ Local page offers a fantastic opportunity to capitalise on these drastic increases in mobile and location based searching. By combining a well maintained and optimised Google+ Local page with Google+ activity such as gaining recommendations for your business from members of the Google+ community, you’ll significantly increase your chances of converting local search users. Here are three more reasons why it’s important to claim and maintain your Google+ Local page: Google+ Local pages will be indexed in Google’s organic search results; Google+ users can now use a special ‘Local’ tab to search for businesses in their area. If you’re not represented, or you are but your page is of a poor quality, you’re much less likely to convert potential customers; if you’re using Google+ as a business and users in your circles are commenting on your posts and sharing them with their friends, your business is much more likely to appear in their (and their friends’) local search results. How do I claim my Google+ Local page? If you’ve already claimed your Google maps listing, you should be able to log in with the relevant Google account and edit your business’s details. If you’re starting from scratch with Google+ Local, here’s how to claim your page: 1. You’ll need a Google+ personal account. This will be the account responsible for managing your Local page and your business page, so choose wisely. 2. Log in and select ‘Pages’ under ‘More’ in the left hand sidebar: 3. Create a new page 4. Select ‘Local Business or Place’ 5. Type in your business’s phone number and click ‘Locate’. If Google already has details for your business it should appear; if this happens, you’ll simply be asked to verify the details it has are correct. 6. If your business doesn’t appear, click ‘Add your business to Google’ and enter the basic information requested. 7. Follow the on-screen prompts, including adding a category for your business and setting an age limit. 8. Click ‘Create’ and you’re done. You’ll now be able to optimise your page and add more details about your business. Maintaining your Google+ Local page Now that you understand what Google+ Local is, how it works, how to set it up and what the key features are, all you have to do is keep it relevant. Make sure you adjust business hours where necessary, keep an eye on any reviews published using the Zagat service, add photos, use the description tab to sell your business and its services, and add anything else you can think of that has the potential to build trust with Google+ users, such as videos. The better the job your Google+ Local page does of selling your business, the more likely you are to capitalise on local search. Google+ Local: Current Issues As with many new services, Google+ Local still has a few issues that need ironing out. Firstly, there’s the fact that a business page, and therefore a local page as well, has to be attached to a personal account. That’s fine if you’re a local plumber, but not ideal if you’re a larger business. Be cautious which account you use to set up the page, or you could find yourself with no access to it should the employee you delegated the job to choose to move on. Secondly, there is currently no verification process for Google+ Local pages, meaning anyone can either make up a business, or make fraudulent claims on your business’s address. This makes it even more important that you establish an official presence on the network. James Roome is a Senior Social Media Consultant at I-COM, Manchester, creating social media strategies and providing training to clients.
A Guide To Making Shareable Content For Google+
In the first of a four part series (every Thursday) through a series of expert guest bloggers we hope to unravel and help you understand Google+. Here’s part 1: Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ve no doubt heard of Google Plus. You may have even already created a page for your business on this ever-expanding social network. Well, whether you created your business page out of curiosity, to protect your brand, or just out of fear of not being on it, one thing is for certain, you need to do more than just create a business page to get any benefit from Google Plus. Whilst this sounds really obvious, the kind of content that you share on your Google Plus business page, and the way you share it, can really determine whether your brand is successful on this social network. Why should you care if your content is sharable? Isn’t enough that you’re just putting content on there? Well, the answer is simple. Like the basis of all social networks, sharing and engaging is fundamental for building up a strong touch-point with potential consumers on Google+. This will encourage users to ad you to their circles. Not only this, but the more authority Google see in your Google Plus page, through the amount of users that have your page in their circles, the more likely Google are to use your page as suggested content for users. In this post, you will discover how to make your updates and the content you post as ‘sharable’ as possible. Is your content relevant? Making sure your content is relevant is basically about giving a good level of consideration to what’s going on in the world, your audience, and your brand. Keeping your content and updates in-tune with your brand is beneficial to building a strong brand, whilst ensuring your content is relevant to current events and also relevant to your audience, it is going to have a greater appeal to your audience and therefore be more ‘shareable’. Newlook clothing retailers put a nice spin on the topical event of London 2012 Olympics and the Queens Jubilee, and relate it to a trend they are pushing for the season. The result is a topical update which they have made relevant to their brand and target audience: Viral Content If you can create content that is likely to go viral, then this is an obvious way to increase the likelihood of your content being shared. It’s easier said than done as often viral content happens by accident. You couldn’t have dreamed up the way that Fenton (or Benton if you prefer) the dog went viral. If you’ve got the time and the resources to create content that’s likely to go viral, this is a sure-fire way to get your content shared. Alternatively, if you’ve got your finger on the pulse, you can be one of the first pages to share content that others have created which looks to be increasing in popularity; keeping your eye on trending topics within social media is a great way of achieving this. Users are still likely to re-share your share because the content is still relatively new. However, steer clear of content which has been viral in the past, but is no longer popular, no one likes old news. Share your audience’s content If you share content that was created originally by your audience (and give them credit), the audience member is more likely to share your page’s content in return. Other users will also see this and make more effort to engage with you, in the hope you share their content too. Everyone loves five minutes of fame. The Pinterest Google Plus page does this well: Original Content As with most social platforms and the web in general, original content is the best content! If you can’t think of anything completely original to write about and are planning to write about something that is being covered by a lot of other brands online, try to at least make sure you take an original angle on it if you can. Try to offer something unique (even if it’s a unique thought about a well-covered subject); this way, your audience are more likely to share your content. I tried to do this with a blog post I wrote about a recent AdWords update which was being perceived as a negative update for AdWords specialists. The angle I took was to explore the positive aspects of the update, rather than being negative like much of the coverage at the time. I then shared this content on Google Plus: Whatever you do, do not copy and paste someone else’s content. How you share is as important as what you share Formatting Things are more appealing when they look nice. Now, we’ve always been told to never judge a book by its cover, but most of us still do. At the very best, we might just about take into account the blurb on the back of the book. The online equivalent is judging content by its thumbnail, and possibly reading the description that goes along with it. So, choose a half-interesting thumbnail-image for the content you’re sharing. This will get your audience’s attention and increase the likelihood of your content being shared. When you share a link on Google Plus, it usually pulls in that page’s Meta description as standard, so if you have control of that Meta description (e.g. if the content is from your own blog where you can write your Meta) make sure it’s engaging and prompts an action. SEOmoz did this here: Don’t Just Paste a Link There is nothing worse than seeing a page which has posted a link to some content, without a description of it. Your audience will be left thinking, ‘so what and ‘why is this relevant to me?’. With any link that you post, make sure you include at least a couple of sentences to introduce the content and inform your
Does Google PLUS really add to our world?
It looks like Facebook. It’s blurb sounds like Facebook. If you got up close, it probably even smell’s like Facebook, but this is Google entering the social networking arena…again. A select band of people (were you one?) were this week invited into Google’s latest project – a social networking service called Google PLUS. Those selected few will also soon be able to invite others and the idea is to let people share and discuss status updates, photos and links as you would in Facebook but in a more intimate group. Small groups or ‘Circles’ is the focus – colleagues, best mates, sportsteam teammates etc – and for that purpose there are group text messaging and video chat facilities built into the network. The Google line is it is more like real life, you have more control and more privacy: “In real life, we have walls and windows and I can speak to you knowing who’s in the room, but in the online world, you get to a ‘Share’ box and you share with the whole world,” said Bradley Horowitz, a vice president of product management at Google. Pitched by anybody else and actually it probably sounds like a poor-imitation of what is already out there. Yet this is Google saying this and backing the project so people will sit up and take notice. The biggest issue is whether the heavily scientific and engineered approach that has seen Google become so successful using algorithms and data analysis, can be converted to a more touchy-feely and informal approach that social networking thrives on. What Google hopes is that people will sign up with PLUS to enable them to get at least some insight into the valuable world that is developing in social networks in terms of advertising data and trends that so often is not accessible to Google’s search robots or experts. The ‘reality’ approach includes an attempt to mimic those occasions when people want to be your friend when you don’t really care. Unlike on Facebook, people do not have to agree to be friends with one another. Via your circles however you can have greater control over who sees what about you. So you effectively get more than one persona. The multiple personality aspect is promoted as a benefit and can offer greater control, but could also offer its own difficulties and dangers of course. The potential winner as we see it at the moment is ‘Sparks’ which is a push type notification of “what you’re into and … stuff it thinks you’ll like”. It may sound a bit Big Brotheresque but the viral aspect and shared interests appeal of Twitter and Facebook could be amplified by this tool. Google has of course launched big ideas before and then slowly retreated but expect it to push and bang the drum on this one more and more as the year progresses and they tweak based on feedback from a growing user base. Have you had an invite to Google PLUS? Have you taken the plunge? What are your thoughts?