Verifying your brand page on google Plus

Now that Google offers “Brand Pages” for Google+, it’s probably a good idea for you to go gra
b your slice of the web.  Admittedly, it took us a while to get on board with Google+.. We still don’t use it like we should, but I can tell you this – in my observation, people using Google+ seem to be smarter.  I’m not calling anyone dumb, but it is refreshing to log into a social media platform and not see updates like “I’m bored, hmu” clogging up my news feed.

Back to Brand Pages:  When they started out, they didn’t have a lot of features.  Recently, Google has added the ability to add multiple page admins and to become “verified” – which is the focus of this blog post.  Of all the brand pages we’ve seen so far, only a fraction have used this feature.

Since some people seem to be confused about the process, here’s a quick little way to get it done:

Verifying your Google+ Brand Page

Page verification is Google’s way of showing users the authenticity of a profile so that they are ensured they are adding the product, brand, business or person they are looking for. A page’s verification is identified by a small check mark next to the profile name, this tells users that they are adding their desired page and not one that is run by an impersonator.This verification will help you stand out amongst other non-official pages during search by adding merit your website to your Google+ page.  Here is example is of the NFL team, the Indianapolis Colts who do have an official brand page, yet don’t have it verified:

The first result in this example is actually an unofficial Colts page, the official page is number two.  Now a user wouldn’t necessarily know.  This is an important factor when informing users about a page.  Currently 1051 have the fake Colts page in circles compared to only 194 who have the official page in their circles.

When the brand page is verified, the checkmark displayed helps make the official brand page stand apart:

Page verification has to be run through Google and should be noted that not every page will be verified. There are, however, steps that you can take to increase your chances that Google will accept your verification. Before filling out the verification request form make sure to have the following:

Authorization by your commercial entity, organization, brand, or product
A link to your organization’s website on your Google+ page
A link to your Google+ page on your organization’s website (either the Google+ badge or a snippet of code)
Have over 1,000 people add you to their circles
Now, the web requirements for Google+ page verification are  complete.  The last thing you have to do is fill out a simple request form for Google. This does require a new set of information including: