Improvements to Google+ Pages
In November, Google+ launched Pages for businesses and brands, allowing them to congregate with users and network as a brand, as Google has seen a distinct difference between a personal user and a business as the behavior and expectations of both are different.
Earlier this month, Google+ announced that changes would be coming to the product in an effort to appease the critics. Even we noted that, among other things, “Google+ Pages never should have launched without the ability to be managed by multiple people.”
The ability for a business page on Facebook or Google+ to be managed by multiple people is essential for any business that is comprised of more than one person, most notably large brands whose marketing and social media teams are sizable. Not having multiple administrator capabilities was a deal breaker for most.
Without knowing, on the day that Google+ Pages launched, thousands of people set up their company’s brand page without knowing that they would be the only people allowed to use the Page, strictly limiting the company’s ability to network. We heard frequent reports of interns setting up major brand Pages only to find out that no one in the company could access the Page or use it in any way except for the intern.
Google+ adds administrators
Many brand Pages immediately went stagnant at the news that only one administrator is allowed, with many companies opting out until multiple administrators allowed. Today, Google has announced that Google+ Pages allow users to delegate up to 50 named managers as administrators for a page.
Bradley Horowitz, Vice President of Product, Google+ said, “A new notification flow will ensure that these managers stay in the loop on all the activity that takes place on a page, giving managers the ability to stay involved in page conversations.”
Google+ will now show an aggregated count of users that have engaged with a Page by adding it to a circle or by adding a +1 to the page so anyone can get a summary of a Page’s interactions.
This is huge news for professional users and these few basic updates to the Google+ Pages product will likely bring brands back to the Pages and get companies back on track within the Google+ ecosystem.
