How to Optimize your Google+ Profile

While we wait for Google Plus to pick its feet up and start getting more users and businesses engaged, now is the best time to experiment and really get a hang of the features of the platform.

Those who are concerned about keeping up with another social network, should really open up their minds a bit more, because they are missing out on great opportunities, especially with SEO and diverting traffic to your websites.

One great way to divert traffic to your Facebook fan page, Twitter profile, LinkedIn company page, blog, or personal website, is to complete your Google+ profile. It’s really straight forward compared to other social networks like LinkedIn, and definitely takes up a lot less time.

Here is how I’ve optimized my profile to direct traffic to several accounts.

Include your Services & Skills underneath your name

You want people to know what you do at first glance, without reading through your whole profile. This and your profile picture is the first thing people see when they want to find out more about you. Use this as an opportunity to include keywords of your service and skills. I’ve included; Web Design London | Web Development London | SEO | CMS Websites so that the area I specialise in is clear.

When people Google your name, your Google+ account is likely to appear at the top of the search rankings. This result includes your name, description, and the first few words of your introduction. Go ahead, try it!

Complete your introduction with keywords

Google+ at the moment is leaning towards the informal end of the spectrum, so there is space to be friendly and show some emotion, but it would be terrible not to take advantage of the hyperlink function. The platform allows you to highlight certain words and add a hyperlink to them, much like you would using any Microsoft office package or WordPress. Strategically choose the keywords that are the most relevant to your business, and add a hyperlink to the relevant page on your website. Google+ highlights these words in blue so that they stand out from the rest of the text.

Also remember to include your services here, and add hyperlinks to them as well. Another important thing to keep in mind is that for all the information you put into your profile, you can change the privacy so that only you information is only visible to certain people. As a business person however, I would leave it as “anyone on the web”.

Take advantage of your other profiles

The next section to highlight is the “Other Profiles” section, which allows you to add links to any website of your choice. Use this space to direct traffic to your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, Blog, Homepage etc. You can add and remove these as you please, and even change the order in which they appear. As well as this section, there is the “Contributor to”, and “Recommended Link” sections, which are pretty similar in terms of function. Google+ allows you to give whatever name you want to the links. It’s up to you what you put in these sections, but don’t just put “Homepage“ or “Facebook“ when you are adding the links. Use names that will attract users to your services.

Hopefully Google+ will pick itself up in the next few months, and we can really see what it’s capable of. For now have a look at what social media marketers are doing with their Google+ accounts. Add me to your Circles

How have you used Google+ to boost traffic to your website? Leave a comment below.