January 12, 2014

How to Get A Custom Google+ URL for Page or Profile

January 12, 2014/ Andrew Macarthy

In October 2013, Google+ finally started to roll out the option for users to apply a custom URL to their profiles and pages. While the address you end up with isn't completely your choice, it is a whole lot better than previous, i.e. something very long and complicated!

Google+ custom URL requirements

Google isn't handing custom URLs out to any old Tom, Dick, and Harry. You'll need to meet the following requirements until the offer is made to you. Your account:

Must have 10 or more followers
Must be 30 days old or more
Must feature a profile photo

Getting your Google+ custom URL

If you meet the above criteria, you'll see a notification at the top of your Google+ page or Profile. Click the "Get a custom URL button" or from the "About" tab on your Profile, click the "Get" link located under your Google+ URL.

You'll see the URL(s) you've been approved for; just choose the one you like most, agree to the terms, and click "Change URL." Once you change it, it's changed for good and you won't be able to make or request any amendments other than capitalization or accents/diacritics.

And that's all there is to it!

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November 13, 2013

Google Plus Cover Photo Dimensions Size 2014 and Template

November 13, 2013/ Andrew Macarthy

Google has introduced a new cover photo size for all Google Plus profiles and pages, dramatically shrinking it in size. Here are all the details and dimensions you need to get your Google Plus cover photo sized right for 2014.

July 10, 2013

How to Add Admins or Managers to A Google Plus (+) Page

July 10, 2013/ Andrew Macarthy

If your Google+ business page is particularly busy, you may want to hand the responsibility of handling it over to one or more trusted employees. For these instances. The process is really easy and only takes a few moments, but first it's handy to know...

The differences between an owner and a manager

Google+ allows you to assign up to 50 managers to your page, all who have basic admin rights, while you retain ownership. Here's a summary of the differences between an owner and a manager:

How to add a manager to your Google+ page

1. Sign in to Google+ and visit your page, then choose Settings from the left-hand menu.

2. On the next page, click the Managers link at the top.

3. This is the page where all of your managers will be listed. Click the Add managers button to invite a new one.

4. Simply enter the e-mail address of the person you want to add as a manager and click the Invite button. (Note: people can accept invitations to become managers, and sign up to Google+ if they haven’t already, with a different email address than the one the invitation was sent to).

When a invitation is accepted, the owner of the page - you - will be notified via email.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

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May 28, 2013

Google Plus Profile Photo Template for Square Logos | FREE Download PSD Photoshop

May 28, 2013/ Andrew Macarthy

Google Plus Doesn't Like Square Logos

In the first major design change to Google Plus earlier on this year, the social network's profile photos were changed from a square to a circle. While a circular shape works well for head and shoulder photos of individuals and plenty of company logos, if your logo is a square shape - like mine for 500 Social Media Marketing Tips is - then, by default, it doesn't fit... some proper squarelogoism going on from Google! As you can see from the examples in the image above, uploading a square logo sees it being cropped on all four corners, and it just looks messy. Even if you play around with the site's cropping or scaling tools, you really fix it.

The Solution: A Google Plus Profile Photo Template

As a work around to this problem, I have built a simple template for Photoshop or GIMP that will allow you to create and upload a square logo that fits inside the default circular parameters, as in the image above. Of course, you stand to lose a smidgen profile photo "real estate," but what you gain is logo that will display without cropping on your cover photo, and next to every post and comment you make around the site.

The template is 1000 x 1000 pixels big - four times the minimum size that Google+ recommends - meaning your logo will enlarge into a nice, large image when clicked on from your page.

How to Use the Template

When you first open the template, this is what you will see. The green circle represents the Google+ profile photo circle, while the red square shows the "safe" area in which you can add your square logo design. You've got some leeway in all four directions outside of the red square, but anything that passes into the white area will not be visible. So, first of all, hide my "Place your logo within this red square" layer and insert your logo on top of the red square layer instead.

Note: I have chosen a white background for this template to match and blend seamlessly the white of the Google+ layout, though you may choose to experiment with different colours if you wish. If you delete the background and make it transparent, Google+ will not recognise it, and replace your image with a black background by default.

Once you have inserted your logo, hide the red square layer and you'll have something like this.

To finish, hide the green circle layer to remove all traces of the template, as above, and save your image as a PNG or JPEG file.

Uploading the Profile Photo

Visit your Google+ page and click on your existing profile profile photo to upload your new one in its place. When you select the file and it uploads, make sure to drag the cropping lines all the way out to the corners , as above. If you don't, your logo will not look right. When you're done, click the "Set as profile photo" button.

The Finished Result

Here's that finished result once again. Hopefully yours will look very similar!

Download the template

This Google+ template (and several others for all the biggest social networks - expertly measured, simple to use, and up-to-date) is available instantly as a downloadable zip file via the purchase link above. For more information on all my social media templates, click here.

Note: Payment is fast and secure via PayPal, but you do not need a PayPal account to buy and download.