Google+ and YouTube recently announced that you can merge your business YouTube channel and your Google+ page.
Once the pages are merged:
Your YouTube videos will be viewable right from your Google+ page, on a separate YouTube tab
You will have access to hosting live ‘On Air’ hangouts
You can upload videos from YouTube and autoshare them on Google+ to specific circles
Multiple people can now manage your YouTube channel, without having to share a password.
The merge is currently in Beta but we decided to give it a try.
Below is a video showing you how easy it is to merge your YouTube channel and your Google+ page. With Google owning so many tools we all use for business, it is not far off to expect them all to be linked at some time.
Instructions on how to merge your channel and your G+ page
First to set you up for success, you need to make sure the Google account that your YouTube account is assigned to is already a page manager of your Google+ page. If it isn’t, you can set that in the Managers section of your Settings.
After that, just follow these 5 simple steps and you will have merged your two profiles:
Make sure you are logged into your Google Plus page and your YouTube channel
In the upper-right hand corner, go to Settings
Under your Account Information, click on Advanced
Choose to Connect with a Google+ page (beta)
Confirm your request
After that has been done, you can go to your Google+ page and see the new YouTube tab added to your profile.
If you want more information on merging your Google+ page and your YouTube channel, they actually set up a Google+ community on the topic for feedback and issues. Since this feature is still in beta, I am sure feedback is being taken into account as they decide what to do next.
A new year is here! What will the future hold? What crazy things will Facebook and Google do? What will be the next ‘big’ thing? How will development and technology change in just one year?
I am going to keep an eye on Flickr (and Yahoo!), they are making some changes and just redeveloped their mobile photo app. I also think Marissa Meyer, the new CEO, is super smart.
I also want to see how Medium plays out, the new publishing platform from the founders of Twitter. It seems so mysterious right now and no one can seem to explain it clearly yet. I wonder if it will be a flop or if it will change how people publish content online.
I am also generally just excited to see how technology improves, what new services appear this year and how businesses use them to grow!
What the Hall staff is going to keep an eye on in 2013
I decided to ask some of my colleagues what they were going to keep an eye on this year and this is what they had to say:
Marc Breglio – Search Marketer
Bings attack on Google for selling shopping results
Google Shopping – Google ended free product listings as of fall of 2012. To be listed in Google Shopping, you must use the Adwords platform and pay per click now – Will this last? Bing is hardcore bashing Google for doing this and have coined the term Scroogled (see image). But, will other search engines follow? Will smaller stores/brands not be able to compete or will it prove to be beneficial for everyone? Either way, 2013 will be the testing year for this big change for e-commerce marketing.
Social media ads – The big social networks are growing up. They are no longer start-ups receiving loads of funding, working with teams that are too small, and just trying to grow their audience. Over the next few years they are going to need to start paying their bills. They will be paid with advertising. How will this shake out? What new ad options/developments will we see? Will some networks fail, not because they don’t have a user base, but because they can’t generate revenue?
Google Display Ads and other traditional digital ad networks competing with Social Media Ad options – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, are offering ad networks with precise user targeting that has never been seen before. Google has already shown changes that will help them compete (such as user interest category targeting for banner ads). How will the traditional ad networks begin to change the landscape even more to compete?
Tom Hall – President
I am going to keep an eye on coordinated mobile and social marketing programs, new and improved user targeting models and responsive design to meet not only devices but also to meet use cases where the site responds by changing content significantly.
Mike Johnston – Analytics Manager
I’m going to keep an eye on the switch from IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) to IPv6. Seems like it is slow to get going, but I have a feeling it will become more mainstream in the coming year once Europe officially runs out of IP addresses.
RC Lations – CMS Developer
CSS3 & HTML5 Canvas animations will continue to emerge as a replacement for Flash and bridge the gap between desktop displays and app-like animations.
Support for native gestures (touch gestures, accelerometer, compass, etc.) will become increasingly available in the browser, opening up the opportunity for websites and web apps to have even more of an “app-like” experience.
Dave MacElhiney – Director of Client Services
I am curious to see if the Instagram privacy blunder has any impact on the growth of the application.
The integration of all things web – I just fell in love with IFTTT. Let’s you script all kinds of platform integrations… so I can set it up to send me a text if it is going to snow tomorrow or I can have all my Instagram photos save automatically to my Dropbox account.
I got a WeMo for Christmas and looking to do cool things here.
I also am anxious to see bigger and better UX designs for responsive mobile, tablet and desktop sites.
Andre McKay – Technical Search Analyst
I’m also curious to find out how many people abandoned the Instagram ship after the terms of service snafu last month….I know I did.
I’m interested to find out about the Myspace / TV integration that Timberlake leaked earlier this year…nothing really came of it.
And finally, did you hear they are talking about making it possible for you to email someone on Facebook if you aren’t connected to them…for a fee?!? Crazy!?
Jess Wallace – Digital Marketing Analyst
Personally, I’m keeping an eye on MySpace – the new design is pretty slick and I think we’ll see a lot of people shifting to it from Pandora and Spotify. It mashes social and music together in a really smart way. ‘New’ social networks have a hard time gaining traction because users have a hard time starting over somewhere when all of their ‘people’ are on Facebook, etc. (Ahem, Google+) But with MySpace, there’s a different sort of value that makes it more attractive when it comes to adding another network. It’s easier to justify.
I’m also interested to see how mobile search changes over the next year. As it continues to converge with local/social, I think it will pick up an even more rapid pace as tablet use grows and people start to rely on info on-the-go more than ever. Spoken by a girl who never thought she’d own a tablet – who now cannot put her iPad down.
So that is what our office is going to keep an eye on in 2013! What are you excited to see?
Cheers to another dynamic and progressive year in Local Search! 2012 saw many advancements that gave several headaches, but overall much better user experience to marketers and businesses alike. With the abandonment of Google Places, the launch of Google+, the release of smarter mobile technology, and Penguin and Panda updates we are looking at a much different internet marketing world in 2013. From what we know now, here are some things to anticipate in the New Year.
SoLoMo
This phrase otherwise broken down as Social, Local, Mobile is truly becoming intertwined more and more each day. With Google+ now integrating social sharing with search results, and Local Search features reaching top generating app functions on mobile devices, it is clear that the merge of these three media is moving in a permanent direction.
Things to consider in 2013:
Local – Do you have a business with a physical location that clients or customers need to get to? It’s time to get your business correctly listed on sites like Google+ Local, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, and 411 Directories.
Social – Is there a need to connect with your customers on a more personal level for branding, community, and promotions? Look into Facebook, Google+ Local, Foresquare, Pinterest, or other mediums that can help you reach the audience you want in 2013.
Mobile – Do you know how many visitors looking for your site accessed it through a mobile device? We are moving to a mobile world, so investing in a mobile website can be a great way to connect with customers who are eyeballs deep in their smartphones. Are you looking to redesign anyway? Save yourself money and go for a responsive website design that will allow your site to respond directly to the device that it is being used on. Studies show that 46% of mobile users report having difficulty interacting with a webpage. This can be a huge opportunity to edge up on the competition.
Content
The common catch phrase around the block is “content is king”. For Local search, I would change that phrase to be “relevant content is king”. For your website, write content that means something to people in your area. Start your article, blog, or post with something valuable and end with a promotion or event notice. Here are some Local Search content ideas:
Updates about local and seasonal events
Create a Dialog (Ask questions and respond to comments)
Local Sports team calendars and game updates
Day Trip Suggestions
Post Images or Video of events or local area
With so many great tools available in an ever-changing space, Local Search can provide any business large or small, with opportunities to reach a more targeted audience. 2013 will be all about how you connect with the communities you create whether you are a small shoe repair shop, or a national retail chain.
We trust our family and friends – more than any advertisement or endorsement by a faceless reviewer. It’s human nature to listen to and trust the people we know. So it makes sense that organic search is evolving to be socially relevant.
Back in 2009 both Bing and Google launched the “social search revolution.” Bing with its Facebook and Twitter search deals and Google with a “Social Search” feature that included results from social networks at the bottom of the search results page. As the two continue to try to one up each other in social search, we’ve watched them evolve – and fight for partnerships with Facebook and Twitter. So who’s winning?
Google started rolling out Search Plus Your World in January and has been making improvements as usual, including the merging of Places and Google+ Pages (much to the dismay of many). I’m a faithful Google user and I’m not all that impressed with my personal results. I find that they’re buried unless I filter them out and barely ever see them. Results are based solely on Google+ and my network is small and relatively disengaged.
Bing appears to be winning the race when it comes to leveraging data. The “doing engine” introduced a social search sidebar that displays friends from Facebook who might know something about your search as well as other “People Who Know” from around the web based on what they’ve written, blogged or tweeted about. Users can also share their searches with their Facebook friends – and ask for ideas. Bing also announced earlier this month, the addition of Foursquare tips and recommendations to the sidebar – further positioning Bing as THE place to search for things to do and places to visit.
It’s important to remember that the usefulness of all of these tools depends on the user’s friends’ privacy settings and how engaged they are in social media. When I tested Bing, my results were not all that impressive – I’m guessing – due to privacy settings. Everyone and their grandmother is on Facebook, but privacy concerns are huge for a lot of those people. It’s also about who uses what to search. I use Google because I find what I want fastest there, plain and simple. For me, Bing is still up for debate, but I did visit the site when I learned about the Foursquare integration. And as a foodie and explorer I could see Bing coming in handy the next time I’m planning a trip. Mind you, this is coming from someone who uses Google exclusively. Bing could be on to something here. And they’ve created a clever way for users to spread the word about their social search – every time they ask Facebook friends for search advice.
Let’s not forget that we’ve watched search engine/social network partnerships come and go. Last time I checked Twitter hasn’t been so forthcoming with their search data since they realized its value. And with Twitter recently pulling user search capability from Instagram, it’s not looking so good. Who’s to say Facebook won’t decide the same? In fact, looks like they may be beefing up their search as I write this.
Have you found social search to be useful? Which one do you prefer?
