Brands using Google+ Profile vs Business page


Google+ is improving! If you've tried the platform out over the last few years, you will see that there have been marked improvements to the newsfeed, to the way that pages are managed and to the search engine results you receive in Google for your + posts.

For small businesses, having a verified Google+ Business page is a must, as it gives your company a chance of ranking highly in the map results for your business category and location. And... your +post content may start ranking in searches for your Google+ followers. Both great reasons to set up a business page and post content regularly.

If you have a location-based business that provides a service, set up a Business page straight away so that you can start to receive reviews and benefit from placement on Google Maps.

But what if you have a brand that is not location-based, and you already have a Google+ page that you set up as your Profile page, with followers, and a lot of content already posted? Let's look at the differences:

My Profile page has my own name as well as my brand name for my business (blog). I have 174 followers and more than 13 million views of my content. There is a lot of personal information on the About page, and my Posts page has hundreds of entries.


I just created a Business page for my business (blog). The About section has far less personal information and allows me to provide more succinct information about my business. I have no followers and no posts. But, this seems like a cleaner and more professional page for my business.

According to the Google+ user forums expert Priya Chandra on 15th July 2015, there is no way to convert your Profile page into a Business page, or to merge a Profile page with a new Business page that you have set up.

Therefore, you are not able to transfer all the followers you have built up or all the content you have posted over onto your Business page.

You have a few choices:

1. Set up a new Business page for your brand/website/business (as I have done above) and start fresh. Post a status update on your Profile page that you are now using your Business page for updates. Post a status update on your Business page that you have created a new page and would appreciate all your followers to re-follow you here. Then re-follow all your followers using your new Business page (and hope that they re-follow your new Business page). Change all your Google+ links to your new Business page.

OR

2. Keep using your Profile page for your brand/website. If you do not have a service or location-oriented business, you may not need the benefits that come with having a Business page (ie showing up in Maps). However, as you can see above, you will be showing more personal information on the About page.

Have you had this issue? How did you resolve it?

[Refer to this Google+ user forums thread.]

Adore Home magazine June 2015 contributor

I'm thrilled to have contributed to Adore Home magazine's June 2015 issue - the Bedroom edition. The magazine is packed with inspiring ideas for adults' and kids' bedrooms, as well as some great full house tours and shopping tips. I contributed my size favourite Australian-designed pieces for kids' rooms at the moment - mixing classic Australian-Scandi style with bright pops of colour.


You can read the piece and browse the full magazine here. Thanks Loni for having me!

Voices 2014 Top 40 Beauty and Lifestyle Blogger

I was thrilled to be a finalist again in this year's Kidspot.com.au Voices of 2014 award program - top 40 beauty and lifestyle bloggers.

The 6-month program included an excellent Masterclass, spending a day with fellow bloggers learning about the the latest in SEO, community, online marketing and social media from industry experts. Here's a sneaky pic of me with kids' blogging colleague Angela from KidStyleFile.

I was again selected to review a Ford vehicle and wrote a series of posts about the EcoSport that you can find here on Bondville.


Thanks Kidspot for the opportunity to participate again this year; looking forward to next year's activities.

Sydney Vivid Festival 2014 - guest speaker

In June 2014 I was a panelist for the Blog Society event "The Retreat: A Crash Course In The Creative Business Of Blogging" at Vivid Sydney's Festival of Ideas.

Speaking on the topic of monetizing your blog, I joined moderator Alice Nicholls from The Whole Daily, and panelists Petina Watkins from Etsy, Rachel MacDonald from In Spaces Between and Christina Butcher from Hair Romance. We all picked up lots of tips and contributed to the relatively new landscape of paid online media.

Blogging for Business - beginners workshop Friday 16th May 2014


I'm hosting my next Blogging For Business workshop (beginners level) at my studio in Beecroft, NSW next week. If you have a small business and have wanted to use your website effectively to drive sales, this workshop is for you! Join four other small business owners and learn the basics of using a blog/news/update section and the basics of social media. (I have another social media workshop which goes into more depth).

Leave the workshop with an action plan! If you are interested in attending this session, or a future workshop, sign up to the Bondville Media Workshops mailing list to be notified of dates, new learning topics, and my tips and tricks from time to time.

Blogging For Business workshops

This is a great quote from the Sensis Yellow Social Media Report, May 2013: "29% of small businesses and 24% of medium business that use social media have no strategy to drive traffic to their social media accounts."

With my experience in coaching small businesses in digital marketing and blogging, and my own blogging experience, I have put together a 2-hour workshop to help small and medium businesses understand the basics of blogging for business, whether it's for them, and how to get started.

Workshops are held in Beecroft, NSW where we break down the tech-speak into accessible information about using blogging to build your business. Groups are maximum five people.



A recent workshop included a jewellery designer, photographer, arborist, interior designer and patisserie owner, all with varying levels of knowledge and experience.

Some of the participants kindly shared their experience:

"There are so many online sessions and articles or ebooks I get spammed with lately for similar topics but I'm a bit old school - I love the warm and personalised sessions Steph gives, with lots of group discussion, and am relieved she speaks my kind of language rather than incomprehensible tech talk. Very valuable, definitely some things I can start using straight away to help my rankings and get more traffic to my new website!"
Carmen Platt, Another Love Story: Love is equal, photography is tailored, Sept 2013.

"Thank you Steph for such an enjoyable and informative workshop. I found your approach to technology truly refreshing and accessible." Vanessa, Creative Millieu, Sept 2013

Please contact me at steph@stephbond.com if you are interested in attending our next workshop.

abcd social Winter Warmer, The Three Weeds, Sydney

I recently held another very successful meet-up for Sydney artists, bloggers, creatives and designers at The Three Weeds in Sydney. abcd social is a casual event held to encourage collaboration and conversation between like-minded creatives. I run one structured ice-breaker during the social, and then leave the attendees to get to know each other; very much an anti-networking event, which is perfect for creative minds. Read more about the latest abcd social over on Bondville.
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