Your Google Plus Tips Of The Week | Issue 114

Google Plus Tips for Aug 16th - issue 114

1. Improve chances of getting your Comment Featured in a HOA
2. Want a little privacy on Google+?
3. How to Get More Interaction on Google+

Improve chances of getting your Comment Featured in a HOA

As an audience member, this is great not only because you can interact directly with the HOA host and filmstrip guests but, if featured by the hosts, your comment and profile photo will be part of the video and so seen whenever and wherever the video is viewed.

To help chances that your comment will be featured, I found a couple great tips from Ronnie Bincer and added a few.

1. Make your comment “stand alone". Don't refer to a previous one as there's no guarantee that the earlier comment was featured.

2. Keep your comments short. This makes it easier to read by both the audience and HOA host. This will also prevent the comment from being cut off mid sentence.

3. If your comment is directed at a particular filmstrip member, indicate that at the beginning of the comment so it gets noticed by the host or "comment wrangler". (someone who manages the comments for the host).

4. Think of making your comment "Twitter friendly". Keep it under 120 characters to make your contribution to the conversation "tweetable" and memorable.

5. Having your comment with profile photo included in someone else’s video is a super way to extend your reach. Make sure your photo is well lit and friendly and check to see that your profile page is optimized for all those new visitors that will be dropping by.

Want to be more private on Google+?

Do you feel your G+ Profile page is an open book?

Want to remain a little mysterious?

While not generally advised as a way to make friends and influence people, you can limit what the public can see on your Google+ Profile.

When you look at your Profile Page as “yourself” you see all the tabs under the cover image:

About - Posts - Photos - YouTube - +1’s - Reviews  

You have the option to hide all or some of the last four tabs.

Go to your Google+ Settings then scroll down to the Profile section and choose which tabs you want to show.

This is what my Profile Page looks like after choosing to not show the profile tabs to visitors. Select: View profile as “public” to see the public view of your page. 

You can also customize it to see how a specific person sees your page. (Option found directly over your profile photo.)

Everything on your Profile page can be been hidden except for the About and Posts tabs.

Hide number of "views".

You can also hide your "view count" which is beside your follower count.

(Views represent how many times your content has been seen by other people, including your photos, posts, and profile page since October 2012 )

This is done on the same Profile section in your Settings.

Deselect: Show how many times your profile and content have been viewed.

If you don’t want your G+ profile to be indexed by Google (not that there’s anything wrong with that), you can 

Deselect: Help others discover my profile in search results.

Hide number of "followers".

If you want to hide the number of followers you have, go to the About tab.
On the bottom left corner of the People Card, click EDIT.

Deselect: Show people who have added you to circles.

You can edit each card on your About tab by selecting the level of visibility you want for each category.

Before retreating completely into the Google+ closet, be aware that most people will choose to circle you based on the information they find on your Profile page.

If accumulating followers and building networks isn't important to you, then be as secretive as you like.

But if you want to build connections, meet new people and certainly, if you want to do business here, then the more open you are, the more rewarding your experience on Google+ will be.

How to Get More Interaction on Google+ [Infographic]

by Irfan Ahmad and Chris Macidis of CircleCount.

Summary:

1. Avoid link dropping since it is an obvious pitfall showing low engagement figures across the board.

2. Share photos with more than 100 characters to get the most interaction

3. Text only posts are worthwhile for both +1s and comments but not reshares

Before you go on to peruse this great infographic, I want to thank you very much for sharing your time with me.If you found this newsletter helpful please share it with your friends.

Ray's LunchBunch HOA is returning in September with the same "Bunch" but new format. Until then, you can catch up on past shows on my YouTube channel or Google+ Page.

http://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2014/08/how-to-get-more-engagement-on-google-plus-infographic.html

Did any of these findings surprise you?

Your Google Plus Tips for June 28

Your Google Plus Tips June 28th

1. Authorship: What’s Changed?

2. 10 Tips for Getting Started on Google+

3. Don’t Be a “Blue Head”

Authorship: What’s changed?

I had the pleasure this week of interviewing  Mark Traphagen, on my G+LunchBunch Show.

Mark is the Senior Director of Online Marketing at Stone Temple Consulting and is the recognized authority on Google Authorship.

Mark shared why Google Authorship is important in establishing Authority and dispelled misconceptions such as simply having "rich snippets" guarantees you a premium spot on search result pages.
Adding to the confusion about Authorship was the June 25th, Google announcement from the IO14 Developers Conference that it is removing photos from search engine results pages (SERPS)

From the moment it was posted by Google Webmaster, John Mueller, the conspiracy rumours flew.

As he points out in the comment section of that post, this move by Google has no impact on Authorship.

Mark responded to this move and the kerfuffle it created on his G+ post: Google Is Removing Author Photos from Search. Why? 
He also wrote an Op-ed in SearchEngineLand: Google Removes Author Photos From Search: Why And What Does It Mean?

You can watch the show and read the comments on the event page: Google Authorship: Hits & Myths

Here are some key take aways:

1. Continue to set up Authorship connections between your Google+ profile and the content you publish anywhere on the web. Resource: Google Authorship Official FAQ

2. “Qualifying authors will still get the byline on search results for their content, even if the photo and Google+ circle count no longer show.”

3. By pulling what many saw as the major advantage of Authorship, Google is making it clear that it can’t show favouritism to Google+. Building your authority is still the best way of getting you well positioned on search.


If it matters to you that people know and trust what you’re about, then:

- Build the type of content that helps people.

- Create content that shows you know what you’re talking about.

- Engage, answer questions.

10 Tips for Getting Started on Google+

- from the LunchBunch

A year ago I asked our #GPlusLunchBunch to share Tips for Getting started on Google+  

Here are 10:

1. Decide who you want to reach and what topics interest you, then do a search and organize them in circles. Search for keywords and hashtags specific to your interests and goals. - Sherry Nouraini

2. Use Hangouts to extend your reach beyond Google+ to drive people to your site, Events Page or YouTube channel.

3. Produce content. Treat Google+ like a blog. Produce your own content and use supporting links to build your authority in that content. Don’t just “link share”. Add commentary to your shares. - Randy Bowden

4. Join a Community, interact by asking and answering questions then create your own. Communities are topic specific They offer a great place to show off your expertise and build influence.

5. Just do it!  Spend time listening to people who know their Google+.  Approach it in pieces and in different ways until you find your Google groove. – Bill Vick

6. Lurk before You leap!  Just as you wouldn’t dive off the end of a dock without knowing the depth of the water at your feet, take the time to see what’s happening on the platform. Read posts on topics you’re interested in. Join Hangouts and see how they work. Play with “Circles” management. - Kerry Armour

7. Wear water wings!  Find influencers to help you keep your head above water as you learn the strokes. Google+ is not an out-of-the box toy, it’s more “Legos” than “Barbie”. - Jessica Dewell

8. Make circles make sense  by organizing them according to your needs. On your personal profile that may be according to who engages with you the most. On your Brand page, that may be according to level of engagement or place on the “sales” funnel. - Carrie Keenan

Your four top circles appear above your Google+ stream. 80% of my engagement happen within those circles so it’s wise to make sure they’re populated by people you want to interact with the most.

9. Be a “friend stealer”  Find people to circle by checking out who your friends follow and recommend. It’s a trick I use on Twitter and Carrie Keenan does this on Google+. Once she checks out their profile, she adds them to a “New People” circle and over time, she either moves them up her circle ladder or un-circles them.

10. Find yourself a Hangout buddy and practice using Hangouts On Air (HOA) and Hangout Video Chats (HVC). It’s one of the most popular features of Google+ and is used by many who aren’t active otherwise. -  Scott Scowcroft

Don’t be a "Blue Head"

As the The Beatles sang, “Please, Please Me” and show me who you are.

Nothing says “Don’t circle me” like a blue head., and I’m not talking blue rinse, here.

You can’t make friends with a “bag” over your head.

If you’re not sure how to change your profile photo, here are directions fromGoogle support:(also includes directions for Android, iOS and mobile web)

Desktop

1. Open Google+ and select Profile from the drop-down menu in the upper left corner.
2. Click About below your cover photo.
3. Place your cursor over the blank face, or your profile picture if you have one > click the camera icon.
4. Use your cursor to move your chosen photo into the “Drag photo here” box. You can also click Select a photo from your computer to choose a photo file.
5. Crop your photo > click Save as profile photo in the lower left corner.

Your profile image is 270 px by 270 px and is displayed as a circle.

Your photo should be front facing and well lit. This is especially important as this is your Google profile image and will follow you around the internet (except on SERPs) see Google Authorship.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you found it helpful, please share.

And if you haven’t already, join our Google+ Tips & Topics Community.

You can catch up on past #GPlusLunchBunch shows on my YouTube channel or Google+ Page.