10 Tips for Writing Better Google+ Posts

Originally shared by Google Small Business

10 Tips for Writing Better Google+ Posts
Posted by Toby Stein: 

At Google, we pride ourselves on being accessible, fun, succinct, and, most important, real. We like to call it “being Googley” and it’s how we’ve come to craft and evaluate our interactions with our customers, partners, and each other. It’s worked pretty well for us, so today I wanted to share a few tips on how you can make your Google+ posts more Google-y and have more authentic, personal, and intimate conversations with your customers!

1. Don’t be scared of conjunctions. You’re writing a Google+ post, not a cover letter. So, drop the formality and write like you speak. This is a conversation, not a formal business presentation.

2. Mind the gap. Posts with a lot of text are cut off until a user expands the post. Know where that break falls so that you can include your hook, key information, and other attention-grabbers before the jump.

3. Paragraphs are purrrty. There’s nothing harder to read than an overwhelming, monolithic block of text. Your eyes don’t know where to look, your attention span is taxed. Break your posts into easily digestible bullet points or small paragraphs. Your customers have lots to read. Make life easier for them.

4. Phone a friend. Often, when we write a lot of content we lose perspective. We get lazy about proofreading and unconcerned with our audience’s level of comprehension. That’s why it’s critical to get someone else to read your posts, check your grammar and spelling, and make sure that you’re not going overboard with acronyms, insider lingo, and wild sentence structure.

5. Be modest. Be grateful. Give credit where it’s due by +mentioning contributors, influencers, or partners on Google+. Acknowledge when customers give you good feedback or constructive criticism (even when you don’t agree with it). Your customers, more than anything, want to be heard. Let them know you’re listening.

6. Sign your posts. There’s nothing more mysterious than a post by a faceless page. Letting your customers know who they’re talking to is key to having a conversation that transcends the simple transfer of information and actually creates a mutually beneficial, human-to-human exchange.

7. Post as your page. Engage as yourself. If signing your posts isn’t up your alley and you’re looking to keep your content a little more on the formal side, use your personal profile to engage in the comments. This allows you to answer questions as yourself instead of as the brand, and is a good segue into more in-depth interactions. This can be a good compromise for those of you looking to post as a unified brand without losing a personal feel.

8. A picture is worth a thousand words. If something can be communicated with an infographic, take the time to put one together. It’ll look nice, reshare well, and communicate more information with fewer words.

9. Set expectations. Sometimes, we don’t have time to monitor conversations for hours on end or to respond to every +mention. It’s important that you let your customers and followers know what you’ll respond to and what you won’t. Your “About” tab is a good place for that. Otherwise, set your own guidelines for how long you’ll monitor the comments on your posts. 12 hours? 24? 48? At a certain point, you’ll need to move on to your next post, but it’s good to check back in on old posts from time to time to see if there are any pressing issues that require attention.

10. Vary your length. Try to mix up the types of posts you’re pushing. Sometimes, a short and pithy post with a link will do. Sometimes, a longer post is needed to communicate an idea. The worst thing you can do is to create a boring feed. We see a lot of posts with a single sentence and a link to a blog post or external site, repeated over and over. Not only does it look monotonous, but it limits your ability to communicate, makes your brand seem lazy, and doesn’t showcase your brand’s personality. Take the time to invest in your writing. The payoffs are huge.

Happy writing, happy posting, and happy Thursday! And, guess whose photo we're using today? That's right, it's Brian Rose's. As usual. We just can't get enough.