Google Plus ROCKS! Yeah, I said it – Now what?
Ok, maybe you don’t believe me yet. It’s ok. That’s why you’re reading this now. This is The Ultimate Guide To Google Plus for Bloggers.
Now, what’s the best way to teach about Google Plus? By doing a Google Plus Hangout of course.
That’s exactly what I did. This post has a video hangout I did with the Become A Blogger Community AND a number of QUICK tutorials to show you how to take advantage of the Awesome features contained within Google Plus.
I also talk about how YOU, as a blogger (or just a regular human being) can use Google+ effectively for growing your personal/business brand, AND connecting with others (even friends and family).
So, if you have about an hour and a half, watch the replay video of the hangout, and you’ll learn A TON.
IF you don’t have an hour and a half, watch some of it, and jump down to the Tutorials below.
Btw, this post will be updated on a regular basis with new Tutorials and resources for taking full advantage of Google+. Oh, and make sure to Join The Become A Blogger Community On Google Plus
Now, you may also be wondering if mainstream media is keen to really using Google+. The answer is a resounding YES.
In fact, just check out this video where Alicia Keys did her album launch via Google Plus. Just check out the Awesomeness of this technology.
Links for this Hangout
To ask questions, or to comment on the hangout, you can use the LiveFyre Commenting system below and I’ll be watching those comments for questions.
Thanks for joining the Fun!
Google Plus Tutorials
Ok, now it’s time for some step by step tutorials, especially for people who don’t have the time to watch the entire video to learn how to do some of the simple things. My recommendation – Bookmark this page so that you can come back to this ever expanding resource. You’re gonna wanna do it.
All you have to do is click on a title and Voila, the tutorial will Magically appear. Go ahead and give it a whirl . . .
How To Create Circles In Google+
Go to your Google+ profile and click on Circles in the left sidebar
Select and Drag people to add them to your existing Circles
To create a New Circle, click on “Drag here to create a circle”
In the pop-up, name your Circle, add people to your Circle and click Create Circle
To add a page to a Circle, search for the page that you want to Follow and select the circle where you want to add it
How To Control What Shows Up On Your Home Stream
Go to your Google+ profile
Click on the top tabs to select a Circle to show in your stream
You can filter the posts that will appear in your stream by dragging the volume slider in the top right.
You can choose to Show nothing in your Home Stream
You can choose to Show some posts in your Home Stream
You can choose to Show most posts in your Home Stream
You can choose to Show every post in your Home Stream
You can choose to Subscribe to notifications for all new posts
How To Find Past Conversations In Google+
In your Google+ profile type the name of the person in the search bar and add a topic/keyword about the conversation that you want to find. Click on the number of comments to show the complete conversation.
How To Format And Edit Your Google+ Posts
To edit your Google+ Post, click on the tiny circular button in the top right of the post to show the options.
You can also use symbols to add styling to your text. You can make your text Bold, Italic, and add Strikethrough
*
_
-
asterisks for Bold
underscores for Italic
dashes for Strikethrough
*This is Bold*
_This is Italic_
-Strike Through-
.
How To Edit Photos With Google Creative Kit
Select Photos > Albums in your left Sidebar and locate the photo that you want to edit
Click Edit Photo in the upper right
In the left sidebar you will see options for editing the photo.
You can do Basic Edits, Apply Effects, Decorate and Insert Text.
How To Get Your Profile to Show in Search Results with Google Authorship
If you want your authorship information to appear in search results, you’ll need a Google+ Profile and a headshot for your profile photo. Then, you have to link your Website with your Google+ Profile. (Google doesn’t guarantee to show author information in Google Web Search or Google News results.) Below are options on how to link your Webaite:
Option 1:
You need a verified email address with the same domain name as your Website (e.g. you@yourwebsite.com / www.yourwebsite.com).
Make sure that each post in your website has a clear byline identifying you as the author (e.g. “By Leslie Samuel” or “Author: Leslie Samuel“). Your byline name must match your Google+ Profile
Go to the Authorship page and submit your email address. You only need to do this once. Your email will appear in the Contributor to section of your Google+ profile.
If you want to keep your email private, change the visibility of your link.
Option 2:
First, link your Google+ profile in your website, like this:
<a href=”[profile_url]?rel=author”>Google+</a>
Replace [profile_url] with your Google+ profile URL:
<a href=”https://plus.google.com/12345?rel=author”>Google+</a>
Your link must contain the ?rel=author parameter. If it’s missing, Google won’t be able to associate your content with your Google+ profile.
Second, add a link to your website in your Google+ profile
Go to your Google+ profile and edit the Contributor to section.
Click Add custom link, and then enter your website URL.
You can specify who can see the links by clicking the drop-down button.
Click Save.
Lastly, Guy Kawasaki wrote an excellent book on Google+ and it’s called What The Plus: Google+ For The Rest Of Us. It’s a GREAT overview of how awesome G+ is and how to use it effectively. If you haven’t checked it out, I would definitely recommend for you to do so. Click on the the picture below to download a FREE copy.
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I wish you could do more with the google plus app for cell phones. Very limited. Hopefully, it will improve in the future.
@Nick B Well the app for iPhone does it all. I LOVE the G+ iPhone app!!!
@hubze I don’t have a google plus communities tab on my google plus app for samsung g 3.
@Nick B They just launched it 2 days ago…did you download the latest version?
@hubze i might need to update that app. Thanks man!
@Nick B Ya I bet that is it because they announced it I think on Monday.
This has been a fantastic and informative Google+ Hangout!
@arnoldwatson Thank you!
This has been great and very informative
Tried that. It is not working!
@Daniel Ejelonu Tried what Daniel?
Hovering the cursor over the pictures as suggested by Mahdi.
@Daniel Ejelonu You had to be on the hangout to be able to do that.
Thank you everyone, it was fun and hope to do this a lot in the future.
@Tizzo009 Thank you for showing up. We indeed had a lot of fun and will be doing more in the future.
Thanks for having me. When is the next Hangout
@Daniel Ejelonu Great question. I’ll have a think about that and then let you guys know. Stay tuned!
God bless you all
@Daniel Ejelonu Same to you
Thats pretty cool!
@MarkFaucet Thanks Mark. Glad you liked
i love hangouts!
how did you record this?
@brian1 I didn’t. Hangouts on air are automatically recorded onto youtube. It’s a beautiful thing
I have to say man…I am in love with G+. It is clean and very easy to use and I think the future of social for sure. I have been trying to get my friends and family to come over for quite some time…still working on them!
@hubze Yep, I’m with you there bro. I’m starting to win people over slowly, one person at a time. I think the BAB Community is getting sold on it quickly though after last nights webinar. I’m thinking about doing a part 2 to the Google+ Hangout series pretty soon.
@hubze David , Leslie … I share the same feeing with you both on love for Google+I really enjoyed the Hangout seesion with you guys. Lots of talent.There is such a higher level of results that come from masterminding with that talent.For example, what would be the outcome of an experiment where we gathered the energy of our sharpest associates and did a 30 day blitz on bringing people over to not only establish a Google + account … but iintroduce them to 3 specific features of Google + that broaden there “share” experience ?
David .. Leslie … please give me your Feedback .I believe that it would be a powerful social experiment, that can be repeated … by increasingly larger numbers …over time… for amazing results
It beats the heck out of having all of our eggs in the Facbook Basket.Plus …it educates our associates who probably ALSO want options…And will eventually force a healthier competition between Facebook and Google for the amount of time that the average user spends on either interface.and quie frankly, with google+ communities, Hangouts, google voice, youtube, news, weather, finance, and all the other things that people want access to during the day … the only REAL reason that people are putting up with many of the glitches, restrictions, and censorship of Facebook is because …1 – THEY HAVE NEVER EXPLORED THE ALTERNATIVES2 – THEY ARE LAZYLet’s work on those that fall into group #1I will listen out for a reply from you both.~Muhammad Mahdi~
@GlobalBlogAlliance @hubze My blitz has already started, which was the reason I did the hangout and started the community. There’s lots more coming too, so stay tuned!
You rock Leslie !
@dance4everDANSE No, no – YOU Rock!
The Google plus tutorials alone are a great resource. It stands to reason that if you want to rank with “Big G” you should play be their rules – particularly if you are playing “in their own yard”. Using Googles own tools to promote your site as a first port of call has got to be a good thing. Great resource Leslie. Good work my friend. I actually lkearned some stuff I didn’t know (creative kit..I had no idea
)
@Scritty Hey bro, I’m glad you’re finding value in this stuff. Lots more to come. Yep, Google is definitely doing great stuff there with the plus!
Google + Rocks …Period !
@GlobalBlogAlliance That one phrase summarizes EVERYTHING in this post, lol.
Leslie:
What a fantastic resource. Thanks for doing this. It’s definitely the social media venue I most need to get better at. Great stuff!
@RebootAuthentic You are very much welcome. Glad you found it valuable, and thanks for sharing it on Twitter.
Great post! I run a small company and I’m constantly looking for ways how to promote and advertise online, in order to create an easily recognizable brand. These tutorials are gold to me. Thank you so much!
@Mel Diaz I’m so glad to be able to help. Wishing you all the best with your company!