Well Google has finally done it, they have opened the flood gates for businesses to create their own branded Google+ business pages just like the folks over at Facebook. The community has been waiting for this feature since the Google+ initiative was even announced.

Now that it is here how will you leverage your brand using this tool? Well Google has created a nice little Google+ guide for everyone to follow. They go over things like sharing, promotion and even measuring results.

Google + Business Page Video

Sharing

It is no surprise that sharing is an important part of this tool or any other social media tool. Google sharing allows you to build relationships with your audience and grow your business.

“Google+ Pages help you build deeper relationships with customers by sharing your thoughts, links, photos and promotions with the right people at the right times. Want to offer a behind-the-scenes look at your product team in action? Highlight a unique sale? Get live, face-to-face feedback by holding multi-person video chats with customers all over the world? With Google+ Pages, you can share what matters in a way that matters most to your business.”

Promotion

Google really wants users to promote their appearance on Google+, naturally we should. I know Google+ is still very fresh and will most likely go through a handful of tweaks in the near future but Google already has some nice ways to promote your business page. Community meet your new Google+ badge.

‘Let people know you’re here by connecting your company website to your Google+ Page by adding the Google+ badge to your site. The badge is a new format for the +1 button that connects your site to your page. This enhanced version of the +1 button contains the ability to +1, see personal annotations, and add your page to a circle, directly from your site. Or, just install the Google+ icon. Whenever someone who likes your site clicks the icon, they will be taken to your Google+ page where they can add your page to their circles, and be able to follow your posts from then on.”

Some other areas to look out for as well:

• Google Direct Connect
• +1 recommendations
• Connecting your +1’s
• +1 on the pages of search
• +1 button sharing to Google
• Don’t forget the display ads

Measuring

Measuring your reach and activity is a very important part to understanding how your Google+ business page is interacting with your online audience.

It is important to understand the following:

• The ripples of your behavior and activity
• Social analytics of your page
• Analytics on page
• API integrations