Google+ is taking off – more and more people are participating because of the great features offered – drag and drop sidebar menu, unique profile page that connects to your website and allows you to setup rel=author, Circles that you can departmentalize for your business, events, trends, and Hangouts. The Hangout feature is all the “buzz” – it is being used by business people, rock stars, and Google themselves.
We use the Hangout feature internally at elSue for our meetings. Ellen and I share our screens and use it for troubleshooting. Since we use Google Apps, we can collaborate on a PowerPoint presentation together. Our goal is to start communicating with clients via Hangouts and to provide WordPress and Local Search Optimization trainings.
Google+ Hangout Features include:
- Free video conferencing – up to 10 people
- Hangout from multiple locations
- Hangouts can be made private or public
- Record your Hangout – share or make private
- Share your screen quickly and easily
- Now integrated with Google Apps – collaborate online an record your meetings
We are really impressed with Google’s Help Desk Hangouts. They include Hangouts on Google+ Local (formally Google Places), Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, Google Apps, Chromebook, and so many more interesting and helpful topics. This weeks topic is “Webmaster (SEO) & Search Help Desk Hangout”. They set it up so that you will receive an invitation asking if you plan to attend. You can do this for your business hangout too.
If you miss one of their hangouts no worries, they post it up on their Google+ page. I wonder if they plan to virtually serve us a drink of choice for this Hangout. I responded “yes” that I plan to attend. You can Invite others to the Hangout, when you click on “Invite More” a list of your circles and people appear. They make it so easy. Im going to invite Ellen – if she’s busy and can’t attend today, she can watch it later.
If you are a small or medium size business, using Google+ with all its great features, especially the Hangouts will help with productivity and communication with your team, clients, and vendors.
For more information on Google+ Features refer to a quest post we did for Search Engine People “Google+ Great Resdesign” which took place last May. They haven’t made any major changes since then, at least not that we know of. They have made improvements on the Hangout feature. At the end of August, Google+ also introduced additional options to it’s Hangout feature in an attempt to have more businesses use the social service; allowing multiple people to have a video conference while editing Google docs. I’m confident there is more to come soon.
If you are using Hangouts or Google+ for your business, please send along how you are using it or any comments you like.
