Well the big news is Google finally came out with their business pages, I already hear the colossal sigh going out, “Oh good heavens, yet another social network that we will “probably” have to get on.

Yup! Sorry folks, odds are you will probably have to eventually.

I wrote a post back about Google+ late this summer: How Lodging can get ready for Google+ for Business http://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/how-lodging-can-get-ready-for-google-for-business/ and while Google+ for business is not yet integrated with Google Places, the scuttlebutt is that it most probably will be. I recommend if you are going to get on board with G+ to do the actions in the aforementioned post.

Because Google has kept alive Google+ for personal, and it hasn’t died like some of other Google’s other forays into social media like Google Wave and Buzz, and has gone ahead a rolled out Google+ for business, I think it’s probably here to stay.

Reasons why Bed and Breakfasts should jump on board the Google+ Bandwagon

• Stay ahead of the rest of the pack, if you take the 5 minutes to set up your business profile, it’s that much sooner it will start showing up in organic search (ahead of the people that wait) Odds are Google will start to pick up Google+ business pages shortly in organic search. If Google+ personal profiles are any indication, it shouldn’t take long. People’s names rank on the first page of Google+ for personal, so expect Google+ for business to be there soon as well.
• Do it for SEO (search engine optimization) see above. While I don’t think Google+ will replace Facebook or twitter anytime soon for engagement, it’s going to be important to do it just to be found.
• It’s easy to set up and doesn’t take a long time to personalize
• It’s easy to post to
• Repeat (again) do it for SEO, this is FREE, what better way to pay for Search Engine Optimization and higher search rankings then to do it yourself, for FREE!

If you haven’t already created a Google+ personal profile I suggest you do it now athttps://plus.google.com/

Then create your business page at https://plus.google.com/pages/create orhttp://www.google.com/+/business/

If you don’t want to create your page now and want to wait, at least skip down and read some of my notes on Google+ Pages for business, you may find it interesting and a little different.

Some Resource Links for getting started with Google+

• How to Set Up a Google+ Brand Page http://mashable.com/2011/11/08/how-to-google-plus-brand-page/
• How to Use Google+ for Business-Hubspot http://www.hubspot.com/how-to-use-google-plus-for-business
• Acorn Internet did a nice little post yesterday on it to help get you going on it as well http://blog.acorn-is.com/2011/11/google-for-business-now-available.html
• A nice infographic about understanding Google+https://plus.google.com/106393478695568433143/posts/bXh4UpWh3Kc
• Using Google+ Ripples to Connect with Influencers http://www.seomoz.org/blog/using-google-plus-ripples-to-connect-with-influencers

Ripples are a lot like RTs (Retweets) infographic here at: http://www.forfengdesigns.com/retweet.htm

• Up Close With Creating & Managing Google+ Pages
• 1) How do I find my page after I sign back in?
• 2) How do I delete a page if I don’t want it?
• http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2011/11/09/how-to-delete-a-google-plus-brand-page/

Some notes on playing with Google+ for business

• Writing a note/post apparently gives one the ability to write novels if you feel like it. I copied in over 10,000 words into a post and it took it, and you can apparently put in more as well if you would like.
• Pages can’t add people to circles unless a person adds them first
• Pages can add other pages to circles (and they are visible to other people, unlike Facebook where when you “like” another page “as” a page, it doesn’t show up anywhere except to the liked page unless you mark it as a featured like”.
• Easy to add lots of information in the “about” section as well as lots of multiple links to other pages and media.
• For the profile image, photos or images 150 X 150 or 200 X 200 pixels square seems to work the best. Make Cool Google Plus profile picture and banner using only one photo (no photoshop) http://gpluspic.com/avatarbanner
• Pages have the +1 button

A great example of a little creativity using the 5 photos that can be put across the top of your profile.

What I DO like about the top header of profile pictures (unlike Facebook which changes every time you add a new photo to your page, and then decide to delete it or ignore if from the top) Google+ gives you the option of picking which photos go there (and they don’t change unless you change them) and more importantly what order they go in, depending on which ones you upload first.

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Under the About Tab, if you go into “edit” and to the right side, it says “Recommended Links”

Similar to a blog roll or blog link list, this apparently gives you the option of adding as many outgoing links as you want to this section. I gave up after 55 but apparently it seems limitedless (it will be interesting to see in the future if these links have any SEO (search engine optimization) value.