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By Mandy Saffer

On Wednesday April 12, Google unveiled their improved layout for Google+. To date, over 170 million people have joined Google+ yet the social network has not received social interaction comparable to that of Facebook and Twitter. With improvements to their layout that mimic the most popular social networks, it is likely that Google is expecting their social network’s popularity to soar.

Below I have outlined the 5 most significant changes in the new layout:

Cover Photo

Social media is all about faces and the human element; Facebook’s recent Timeline is a prime example, allowing users and business to display cover photos and large photos throughout their pages.

Google+ is following suit, allowing users to display either one large photo (similar to the Facebook cover photo concept) or five smaller photos that they are calling a “scrapbook” which was the only option for the old layout. Businesses have a great opportunity to represent their brand by showcasing images of their logo or products.

The profile picture is now laid on top of the cover photo, making it easier to have the two images intertwine. Google, Sears, Kraft Recipes, Verizon Wireless and Pepsi are all great examples of how to maximize the effect of the cover photo.

Chat Box

Google+ now incorporates a chat box that stays with you throughout the entire site. The chat box takes the Gmail addresses in your address book and allows you to GChat through your Google+ page.

The chat box stays to the right of the screen no matter what page you’re on. This new feature makes it easy to stay connected with friends and keep the conversation going while simultaneously encouraging public engagement with personal profile pages and business pages. The conversations are logged the same way they are through Gmail, making it easy to keep track of conversations and an effortless switch between Gmail and Google+.

Navigation Ribbon

The new navigation ribbon makes it easier than ever to navigate through Google+. Always on the left hand side of the page, it is easy for users to customize which apps are visible. Users can choose 4 of the apps to stay in the ribbon and control what order they appear in. Mashable posted a great video demonstrating how to organize and customize the navigation ribbon.

Games App

While some businesses may be skeptical of the game app, unsure of whether or not it will help them boost their business, it does offer a number of fun and addicting games that can be played within the Google+ platform. High scores and achievements are shared with other Google+ users, making it easy to find friends to play games with.

Playing a game won’t interrupt any current chats and will not disengage the chat box.

Explore App

The Explore app allows users to customize how many news stories they view. Choose to show “nothing,” “few,” “some,” or “more” things that are hot on Google+. This page also showcases the top 5 trends on Google+ and offers suggestions of pages you might like based on who you follow and who is in your circles.

When clicking on a trend, the feed automatically updates to showcase the latest posts about that topic. Users have the option to “pause” the newsfeed to temporarily stop it from automatically updating. It is also customizable so the feed can show posts from sparks, hangouts, circles, locations, and more. This feature is a great way for users to keep up with what the Google+ community is talking about.

There’s already been a lot of buzz about the new layout. Do you like the new layout? Which new features do you like the best, the least? Anything Google+ is still lacking?

We want to know what you think! Share with us on Facebook or Twitter @pcgdigital! Don’t forget to add us in your Google+ circle!

By Brittany Richter

Last week, January 9th 2011, to be specific, Google posted this video to it’s YouTube channel called “Search, plus your world”

The video its self is visually appealing and keeps your attention, but for those of us who already know what Google+ and +1 are, I think it was a little convoluted. As Joey Abna, a client of PCG, pointed out on his Google+ profile, it makes this update to Google Search look cool, but with implied skepticism Joey asked for the thoughts of others. After immediately watching the video and posting my response, I realized that this warrants more than just a post on Joey’s profile and should be shared with all of our clients, vendors, and industry followers.

A few months ago we wrote about how the Google +1 button was a new way to SEO, and now things are changing again. Google search results, when logged in to Google, will now rank websites higher if they not only have +1 endorsements, but will also pull in Google+ profile posts and comments, pulling that information right in to the SERP.

There’s been a lot of talk about this update and lots of pro’s and con’s, but whether we like it or not, right now this is the way that Google is showing search results. With the increase in “(not provided) “ as a keyword referral, we can see that a lot of people are searching while logged in to Google.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join Google+

As a car dealership there’s five major ways to leverage this change:

• Have someone at your dealership who will be updating your Google+ Business listing sign up for Google+ themselves, then add a page for your dealership.
• Encourage all of your employees to create Google+ profiles and +1 your dealership’s listing.
• Include the +1 button in your digital marketing strategy by placing it on all content and web assets.
• Encourage customers to +1 your website during the review collection process to ensure that you show up the next time they search for a car or for service.
• Have all employees +1 your main website (at the very least) so that when their friends and other connections search for cars or service, your dealership shows up, endorsed by that employee.

As usual Google is changing the game. The +1 endorsements have been showing up for months, so the difference right now is the addition of the Google + posts. If you haven’t been on board with Google+ or +1, now is the time. Sign up, sign up your dealership, and get your employees on board.

You can click here to sign yourself up for Google+ and here to sign up your dealership for Google+.

Add us to your circles to get started.

I logged into Google Adwords Express today, which is Adwords on steroids IMHO, and I noticed that a 3rd option has been added for landing pages: Google+ Pages.

Keep in mind, that for car dealers, the best place still may be the dealership main website, but there are some interesting ideas about how this can be leveraged that I have been thinking about.

In any case, I wanted members of the community to be aware of all the options that Adwords Express can have to leverage and monetize your Google reviews.