Developing Your Page

When you first start using your Page, you view a page with some hints for getting started, as shown in Figure 16-7 (you only see this page the first time).

The following options are available:

+ Start the conversation. This takes you to your Stream so you can create a post.

+ Connect your website. This gives you a snippet of code that you can use to create a Google+ badge for your website.

+ Tell the world. The text box here contains a web link to your Google+ Page.

+ Build your circles. No link appears here, just a reminder that you should use Circles to form links and promote your Page.

+ Google+ Direct Connect. If your website qualifies for Direct Connect, you can create a custom Google search that links directly to your Google+ Page. Google+ Direct Connect enables users to search by brands directly from Google+. Click Learn more and How do I make my Google+ Page eligible for Google+ Direct Connect to learn how to apply for Google+ Direct Connect.

+ Hangouts. Click the Learn more link to discover how to use Hangouts to communicate with people via your Google+ Page.

+ +1 Button. Click the Learn more link to read information on how to integrate +1 with your website.

Once you’ve done some or all of these things, you can start using your Page just as you would your regular profile.

One thing you should do is flesh out your profile in more detail. A key difference between Pages and your personal profile is that the contact information is more detailed; you can add a physical address, fax number, and other items. Follow these steps:

1. Click Profile in your Page.

2. Click Edit Profile.

3. Click How can people reach you and choose from the following options:

+ Phone

+ Mobile

+ Email

+ Address

+ Fax

+ Pager

+ Chat

4. Click Address and type your details into the text box (as shown in Figure 16-8).

5. By default, it is shared with Anyone, but you can use the drop-down list to limit who you share your contact details with.

6. Click Save and Done editing.