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19 March 2014

Google Plus Tools: The Top Ten For Small Businesses

Google Plus Tools

Google Plus Tools

2014 looks set to be an exciting year for social media platforms, especially Google Plus. Created in 2011, Google Plus was dismissed early on as unpopular and unfinished. Despite this early dismal, Google Plus has gained over one billion unique user accounts. The community which Google Plus provides for its users is thriving and highly active. This is due to the constant updates, tweaks and changes and the platform’s ability to address user feedback positively. The Google Plus Tools which the platform is constantly rolling out are extremely beneficial to small businesses. Collected below are the 10 top Google Plus tools for small businesses.

1.       Google Plus Tools – Location Sharing for the Hangouts App:

The Location Sharing feature enables small business owners to know where members of their team are at all times. In addition, this app enables users to share and interact with anyone in their Circles, from their mobile phone device.

2.       Google Plus Tools – Hangouts On Air landing pages:

Landing pages for Hangouts On Air are a recent addition to the platforms tools, these pages allow users to schedule live Hangouts with their Google Plus following. This feature also enables users to create pages which offer a location for countdowns, to create specific group chats, trailers and video promotions.

3.       Google Plus Tools – Upload full resolutions images to an IOS device:

For businesses which are looking to acquire higher quality photos and images for their campaigns without compromising the overall image quality, Google Plus maintains the resolution of images which are uploaded via an IOS mobile device.

4.       Google Plus Tools – HD quality video for Hangouts:

Google Plus has provided HD quality video streaming for Hangouts, this prevents the need to download third party software. In addition, this feature makes it easier for collaborations to occur between employees and companies. The improved video quality is also beneficial when using the platform for personal reasons.

5.       Google Plus Tools – Greatly improved image search feature:

Google Plus have improved their image search feature, these improvements enable users to find images through the platform much quicker than was previously possible. This enables companies and businesses to more effectively find images for their blogs and online content.

6.       Google Plus Tools – Updates to the Google Plus Explore feature:

The newly updated Google Plus Explore stream provides companies and businesses with a means to discover new trends and relevant content. The updated Explore trend is catered directly to the content shared by a user’s Circles. This provides users with the ability to find inspiration for new online content and also to boost the levels of online engagement with this content.

7.       Google Plus Tools – Hangouts SMS integration for Android:

With this feature users are able to send messages to members of their audience via Hangouts, enabling them to inform their following about upcoming events, promotions and product launches. The SMS element means that there are far greater levels of connectivity between a business and their customers on the platform.

8.       Google Plus Tools – Increase in cover image size for profile page:

Users complained that the previous cover image size was insufficient, under the changes the allocated space for a cover image has been greatly increased. This means that businesses and companies have a far greater area in which to create a unique personality for their page, much to the benefit of their page promotion.

9.       Google Plus Tools – Google Plus Email Feature:

This feature enables users to directly email members of their Circles without knowledge of the individual’s specific email address. This enables businesses and companies to access members of their Circles directly in a business capacity.

10.   Google Plus Tools – The Google Plus integrated YouTube commenting system:

In an attempt to remove the level of spam in YouTube comments, users are able to integrate their Google Plus profile with the conversations they engage with on the video sharing platform. This provides small businesses with the ability to increase the influence of their page to a greater and more diverse audience, who are interested in similar content.