Google plus pages are designed specifically for promoting a business, brand, organisation or product. It is different to your personal profile on Google plus. In other words, Google Plus pages are for business use whereas personal Google + profiles are for individuals

In this article we take a look at how you can custom brand your Google plus page. You will need to create a Google Plus page first before you begin to custom brand your page.

Google Plus Page – Main Elements

Before we start to customise the look and feel, let’s take a look at the main elements of a Google Plus brand page. See image below.

How to Custom Brand Your Google Plus Page? Step By Step Instructions

Customising your Google Plus page is similar to creating a custom branded Facebook page. Like Facebook, Google plus lets you custom brand your page with the help of a cover image and profile photo.

1. Login and Go to Manage Your Page

Sign-in to Google Plus and access the page you wish to customise.

2. Complete Your Profile

Make sure your profile is up to date. In order to update your profile, click on ‘edit profile’ link on top right of your profile page. See image below.

Following are the main information that will be displayed on the about section of your page. Provide as much information as possible.

• Page Title
• Introduction
• Hours of operation for your business
• Website: This will be the URL of your company’s website or blog, depending on the page you are creating. An active link to your website is displayed on the about section as well as below your profile photo on the right.
• Contact Information

3. Upload Your Profile Photo

The profile photo (typically your logo) is a square image of 252 pixels x 252 pixels. It is displayed in two places. A full size image is displayed on the right of your cover photo on your profile. A smaller scaled version is also displayed next to each of your updates in the timeline.

You can update your profile photo at any time from your profile tab.

If you upload an image larger than 252 pixels the built-in image editor will let you crop and adjust part of the image that should be displayed.

Tips:

For best results upload a square image of at least 252 pixels. Uploading a smaller image will lead to loss of quality as the image will be stretched to fit this size which will typically blur the image.

Keep in mind that a smaller version of your profile photo will also be displayed next to your status updates. Hence choose an image that will appear clear even in a smaller size.

4. Upload Your Cover Photo

In many cover photo is the main feature for custom branding your Google plus plus page. It is displayed prominently above your page and there are many ways to use it effective to reinforce your brand.

Google plus offers two templates for displaying your cover photo, standard layout and scrapbook. There are explained in detail below.

Standard Format:

The standard layout uses a single full width cover photo that stretches across the top of your Google plus page. The dimensions are 940 pixels width x 180 pixels height. You can upload a larger image and use the built-in image tool to crop the image.

In the standard layout, your profile image is displayed over the right part of your cover photo.

Tips:

For maximum clarity upload an image of the right dimension.

You can use text such as tagline, company information, or other high impact words effectively as part of your cover photo to get your brand message across.

Keep in mind that the right side of your cover photo will be hidden by the profile image (252 x 252 pixels). Try not to include any important information on this side of your image.

Scarpbook Format

If you don’t want to use a single large cover photo, you can use the scrapbook template that displays five smaller images in a “scrapbook” format. In this option, instead of a single full width cover photo, 5 smaller images are tiled next to each other with a few pixels gap between each.

Take a look at an example below.

What Next:

Now that you have a custom branded Google Plus page for your business, update your page regularly by adding valuable content to your timeline. This will add value to your page and attract the attention of users. I can guarantee from experience that if you share quality content, your user base and following on Google Plus will grow. It will not happen overnight but it will eventually.

This is another area where the benefits of having a blog becomes even more evident. Sharing new blog posts on your Google Plus is a very effective way to ensure your page remains fresh and up to date whilst helping you attract new readers for your post.

Have You Customised the Look of Your Google Plus?

Readers: If you have customised the branding of your Google Plus page with a cover photo and profile image, we would like to hear from you. Please share a link to your Google plus page in the comments section below.