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Link my Web site to my new Google Plus Business Profile Page?

Thanks to your tutorial [see Create your own Google Plus Business Profile] I now have a Google Plus fan page that points to my Web site. Useful. But I would also like to point back and it's my understanding that if I do it right, my page is the eligible for "Google Direct Connect". What's the secret, how do I do this?


Dave's Answer:

A splendid question and one that involves some coding on your part, a special snippet that you have to paste somewhere on your site's home page. The good news is that it's pretty easy with Google's help pages, and they recommend that you just go ahead and add the cute little g+ icon, which is the easiest.

In either case, though, the first step is to figure out what Google calls the canonical version of your Google Plus page URL. Yeah, what it has to do with canons, we don't know either.

Still, it's not too much of a nightmare. Since I'm assuming you already have a Google Plus Business Profile Page, what you need to do is go to your page's stream, then click on "Get Started" on the left side:

google plus business page link 1

When you click on "Get started" you'll see that the subsequent page has a number of different areas. The one you're interested in is "Tell the world"...

google plus business page link 2

As you can see, the canonical version of my Google+ Ask Dave Taylor page is:

https://plus.google.com/115791840784857718050

Armed with that -- and it's mostly the long numeric value -- we can jump back to the task of creating the "g+' icon. To do that, you'll want to get the snippet of code, which drops you here:

google plus business page link 3

Copy and paste the numeric code and you'll be able to choose between different styles and sizes of icons. Here's the one I like, the "Medium Icon":

small g+ icon

Immediately below the icon display is the snippet of code I'll need to put on my own home page:

google plus business page link 4

That's it. I copy and paste that so it shows up somewhere on the home page and lets Google know that the Web page and the Google+ business profile are a loop and are a definitive connection, making you eligible for Google Direct Connect and, of course, helping your fans find you on G+ both.

Want to do something more subtle? Add the following line of HTML to the head section of your home page (with your own ID specified) and that'll do the job too, without having a visible link back to Google Plus:

<link rel="publisher" href="https://plus.google.com/[yourpageID]" />

However you do it, I hope this'll help you get up to speed with your Google Plus business profile page.

But you're not done yet! Why not Circle Ask Dave Taylor on Google+ too? Thanks!


More Useful Google Plus Help Articles:
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✔   How do I share my screen in a Google Plus Hangout?
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Categorized: Google Plus Help   (Article 10150, Written by )
Tagged: google direct connect, google plus, google plus business pages, google plus fan pages
Previous: How do I claim a business on Google Places?
Next: How do I create a Facebook Group in the new UI?




Reader Comments To Date: 3

Varun Choudhary said, on November 17, 2011 3:34 AM:

that helps a lot

veera said, on November 21, 2011 1:43 AM:

nice tutorial about how to link google plus account to website thanks for posting .....great efforts

Richard Cummings said, on March 22, 2012 1:03 PM:

Dave, as always, you give great information. I just followed the instruction but it seems to be a little different now or maybe because I already had a Google Page. Anyway, I did not have the "get started" link...it was just the share link and then you can right click the link to get your "canonical" URL.

Again, thx for the great info,
Richard

Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











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