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Tips and tricks for managing your business with Google’s solutions
Google Apps highlights – 11/18/2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “
Google Apps highlights
" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.
The last few weeks have brought a fresh new look in Gmail, more mobile access options and simpler meeting scheduling tools. Millions of organizations using Google Apps can now use Google+ on their business and university accounts, and we launched a couple Apps-related Google+ Pages ourselves.
Gmail’s new look
Back in July we
previewed
Gmail’s new look, and a couple weeks ago we started letting people
switch to the new design
with one click. The refreshed interface makes it easier to follow conversations and spot the sender with profile pictures for each message. The new look also supports
dynamic screen densities
, so Gmail displays properly whether you’re viewing on a large desktop monitor or a smaller mobile screen. We also added a selection of beautiful
HD themes
to the existing gallery. Finally, we made it easier to perform advanced email searches using a panel of powerful search options that reveals with a single click.
Gmail app for iOS devices
This month we introduced the
Gmail app
for
the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
, complete with mobile alerts for new mail, a responsive touch screen interface and Gmail mainstays like fast search, conversation view and address auto-complete.
Suggested meeting times in Google Calendar
We’ve heard how frustrating it can be to spend 15 minutes finding a good time for people to convene for a 30 minute meeting, so we made it easier to find a good meeting time in Google Calendar. The
suggested times
feature automatically reviews the availability of meeting invitees, and proposes event times that work for the whole group.
Google+ for organizations using Google Apps
Businesses, schools and organizations with Google Apps can now
use Google+
. Employees and students can create profiles, +1 things they like on the web, share interesting content with their circles and have live multi-person video chats with classmates, colleagues and friends. Organizations can also
create their Google+ Pages
—an organization’s identity on Google+ for customers, students or fans. We’re using Google+ Pages ourselves, so take a look at the
Gmail
and
Google Enterprise
pages, and circle us if you’d like to stay in the loop.
24x7 telephone support and improved mobile device management
This week, we introduced a couple other new benefits for Google Apps customers. Organizations of all sizes around the world can now
call our support hotline
at any time for all core service issue. Also new this week, we improved our
mobile device management
capabilities with an interface for administrators to view and deny mobile devices connecting to Google Apps, granular mobile policy controls, and the ability to visualize mobile usage trends across the organization.
Who’s gone Google?
Organizations large and small continue to amass around Google Apps. We’re thrilled to welcome a whole host of new customers including the Trinity Mirror Group (Britain’s largest newspaper publisher), startups such as
JobFlo
and
UserTesting
, organizations including the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
, and colleges like the
University of Michigan
and
UT Austin
. Welcome to all!
Get closer to your customers with Google+
Monday, November 7, 2011
(Cross-posted on the
Inside AdWords blog
.)
Editorial note
: Many of you have already verified your
Place page
via
Google Places for business
. We encourage you to continue maintaining the information in your Google Places account to help ensure that potential customers can find accurate information about your business on Google Maps and local search. You may also want to supplement your Google Places account with a Google+ Page for your business, which provides you with additional ways to engage and directly interact with customers using Google+. Currently, however, Google Places accounts and Google+ Pages must be managed separately.
Since the initial launch of Google+ just a few months ago, we’ve welcomed over 40 million people and introduced more than
100
new features. For all these people, one important part is still missing - your business.
We want to help you make the same kinds of lasting connections with your customers online the way you can in real life. That’s why we are introducing
Google+ Your Business
, a collection of tools and products to help you get closer to your customers. At the heart of this is
Google+ Pages
, your business’s identity on Google+.
Google+ Pages: Have real conversations with the right people
To get your business on Google+, you first need to create a Google+ Page. On your page, you can post updates and news about your business, engage in conversations with your customers, send tailored messages to specific groups of people, and see how many +1’s you have across the web. Here are a few features of Google+ Pages that we think will help you build relationships:
Google+ Pages are at the heart of Google+ for Business
Hangouts
Sometimes you might want to chat with your customers face-to-face. For example, if you run a bookstore, you may want to invite an author to talk about her latest novel, or if you market a cosmetics line, beauty specialists might want to hold how-to sessions for makeup tips.
Hangouts
make this easy, by letting you have high-quality video chats with nine customers, with a single click. You can use Hangouts to get product feedback, help solve problems or simply get to know people better, all in real time.
Hangouts let you meet your customers, face to face
Circles
Circles
allow you to group followers of your Page into smaller audiences. You can then share specific messages with specific groups. For example, you could create a Circle containing people who are your most loyal customers and offer them a special discount.
+1 button and Google+ badge: Inspire current customers to recommend new ones
Google+ Pages also help you deliver your great content to users in a way that’s easy to share with their friends. We introduced the
+1 button
as a way for your customers to recommend your business across the web - on Google search, in your ads, on sites across the web and on mobile devices. Now, your customers can +1 your Page, recommending your actual brand -- not just an individual ad or a site -- directly to their friends.
To help your customers find your page and start sharing, we have two buttons you can add to your site by visiting our
Google+ badge configuration tool
:
The
Google+ icon
is a small icon that directly links to your Page.
In the coming days, we’re introducing the Google+ badge, which lets people add your page to their circles, without leaving your site, to start getting updates from your business via Google+.
Make your +1’s count, improving the performance of your ads
Coming soon, we will also make it possible to link your Page to your AdWords campaigns for your site, so that all your +1s -- from your Page, your website, ads and search results -- will get tallied together and appear as a single total.
Your +1’s will be shown with your brand wherever it appears, including search, ads, Google+ and your website
Consumers will be able to see all the recommendations your business has received, whether they are looking at an ad, a search result or your page, meaning your +1’s will reach not only the 40 million users of Google+, but all the people who come to Google every day. In the coming days. you'll be able to link your page to your AdWords campaigns by following the instructions in the
AdWords Help Center
.
Or, if you're using AdWords Express from your Google Places account, you can link your ads to your Google+ Page by simply selecting the option to direct viewers of your ad to your Google+ Page, and entering the Google+ Page URL in the appropriate field.
You can link your Google+ Page to your AdWords account with Social Extensions. Social Extensions are available in the ad extensions tab in your AdWords account.
Bringing Google+ to the rest of Google
Our ultimate vision for Google+ is to transform the overall Google experience-- weaving identity and sharing into all of our products. Beginning today, we’re rolling out a new experimental feature,
Direct Connect
-- an easy way for your customers to find your Google+ Page on Google search. For
eligible
pages, when someone searches for your business with the ‘+’ sign before it Direct Connect will send them directly to your page. For example, try searching for ‘+YouTube’ on Google. Users will also be prompted to automatically add Pages they find through Direct Connect to their circles. Direct Connect will not work for everyone.
Direct Connect suggestions start populating as you type on Google.com
Just the beginning
We wanted to help you get your business on Google+ as soon as possible, so we’re opening the field trial for Google+ Pages to everyone today. Creating a Google+ Page only takes a few minutes. To get started, you’ll need a personal Google+ profile. If you don’t have a Google account, it’s very quick and easy to join. And if you are looking for inspiration, check out some of the companies that are already starting to set up their Pages:
To learn more about how Google+ works for your business, check out the
Google+ Your Business site
. We’re just getting started and have many more features in the coming weeks and months. To keep up to date on the latest news and tips, add the
Google+ Your Business page
to your circles. If you have ideas on how we can improve Google+ for your business,
we’d love to hear them
.
Posted by
Dennis Troper
, Product Management Director, Google+ Pages
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