100 years ago when I first started helping small business owners with their social media marketing efforts, it was extremely important to emphasize the difference between profiles and pages on Facebook. Every day, with the patience of a Jedi warrior I would explain that “profiles are for people, and pages are for businesses.” Nowadays it seems that most businesses have a grasp on this concept and understand that they are not to use a personal profile to represent a business… At least, that’s what I thought until Google+ came onto the social scene!
In case you are unfamiliar with Google’s log-in process, here is a how it works:
- User creates a Google Account (this is usually done in Gmail)
- Users Gmail login credentials are then used to access both YouTube and Google+
Sounds pretty simple, right? The problem however (for businesses) is that the Google+ account linked to the Gmail login credentials is a personal profile and not a business page.
Similar to Facebook page management, G+ business pages are managed by personal G+ accounts. Businesses should not create G+ profiles to represent their brands – they can’t be converted into a business page either. This means that to create a business page, companies have to create one from scratch using a personal G+ profile to do so. Here are directions to create a Google+ page for your business or organization after you’ve logged in to your personal G+ account:
Note that similarly to Facebook, Google+ page owners can assign multiple managers. This allows employees to access the page to publish content on behalf of the business without using the boss’s personal Gmail credentials.
Have questions about setting up your Google+ business page? Ask us in the comments.
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