Category: Google+

70 time-saving social media shortcuts [Infographic]

Whether it’s figuring out how to squeeze more time out of our daily lives or how to more productive on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube. We’re always looking for a shortcut. As we share more and more of our personal lives through social media, it’s time that we created social media shortcuts to help us learn how to get more efficient in the limited amount of time that we have.

According to Experian Marketing Services, Americans spend 16 minutes of every hour online on social networks. That’s nearly 25% of every hour being spent on a social media site. While we won’t go into what users do on social media sites. that’s a lot of time to be spending checking updates from others and less time that we can be productive.

The team at Quintly put together this infographic featuring 70 social media shortcuts to help you get more done on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube. In addition to the social media shortcuts listed, they’ve also included a few easter eggs (hidden features).

While these shortcuts only work when you’re on your computer and not on your mobile device such as your smartphone or tablet, they’re very handy to learn and can help reduce the amount of time you waste from senseless clicks online.

70 time-saving social media shortcuts

Continue reading 70 time-saving social media shortcuts [Infographic]

5 Easy steps for better SEO with Google Authorship

How to setup Google Authorship

Want to stand out on Google? While it is important to write great content that is optimized for SEO so that people find it, your best bet is to use Google Authorship.

What is Google Authorship?

Google Authorship is basically a way to link your Google+ account to your blog content. In addition, it adds a photo next to your content in search results – this way it’s easy to associate a name with a face.

This is beneficial if you rank well for certain keywords for the following reasons:

  • Links your content you post online back to you!
  • People searching can quickly see who you are
  • Identify how many people have you in their Google+ circles (a measure of influence)
  • Quickly identify your content in Google search results because you have a photo next to it
Google Authorship example
Example of a blog post with Google Authorship set up.

Setting up Google Authorship is easy. We’ve outlined the steps you need to follow below.

How to setup Google Authorship Continue reading 5 Easy steps for better SEO with Google Authorship

Google Takeout – How to Save and Backup Google data

Google Takeout

When you first hear the term Google Takeout, it sounds as if Google is getting ready to open its own chain of Google restaurants. While they supposedly have a great Google cafeteria, the only thing Google Takeout is serving is your data.

What is Google Takeout?

Google Takeout is a tool from Google to help you “download a copy of your data stored within Google products.”

This means that if you use YouTube, you’ll be able to download an entire archive of your videos. At last count, we had 270+ videos on our YouTube channel. That’s a lot of work we definitely want to keep a backup of should YouTube ever go down.

What kind of data can I download from Google Takeout?

Google Takeout is a pretty remarkable product. Here is a list of the Google products you can download data for using Takeout.

Google Takeout - Archive

How to use Google Takeout?

Google Takeout is pretty straight-forward to use. Simply follow these steps.

1. Login to Google Takeout

2. Select the data you want to download

You can choose to download all of your data at once or be selective about the data you download. If you have previously used Takeout to download your data from Google, there is a downloads tab that you can choose to look at past downloads.

3. Select “create archive”

When you select “create archive,” Google will begin to download your data.

Note: In my experience, it only takes a few minutes to download your Google data from Takeout.

4. Click “download” and save your file to your desktop (it downloads a zip file)

Once Google has finished with your data, select “download” to save a copy to your computer. If you like, you can unzip the file and check out your data that Google downloaded.

One thing I like most about this is how organized your data is.

Note: if you have previously used Google Takeout to download your data, it will appear below your current archive.

Is Google Takeout helpful?

Overall, I find Google Takeout to be an extremely fast and efficient product from Google. I like how I can download an archive of my data and know that I can have this in case something ever goes wrong or I simply just want to be able to reference my past content.

One thing I wish it had were a way to schedule a backup. Right now, you’re left to use Takeout to download your Google data on your own time.

Question: Give Google Takeout a try and let me know what you think about it. Did you have any issues using Takeout to download your Google data? How fast was it for you? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

 

20 Google Extensions to Expand Google+

Google Extensions

Google+ is one of my favorite social networks to use. Sure, it started off with a lot of posts about technology, but in the past two years, it has grown significantly. One thing I like is how you can expand its functionality by adding in Google extensions within Google Chrome to add new features to your Google+ account.

We’ve put together 20 of our favorite Google extensions to help make using Google+ easier.

20 Google extensions to expand Google+

Continue reading 20 Google Extensions to Expand Google+

15 Creative Uses for Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts are an amazing piece of technology. Not only are hangouts a great way to stay connected with friends and family, but Google Hangouts can also be used for a lot more.

To get your creative juices flowing, we have compiled 15 creative ways you can use Google Hangouts 0utside of just connecting to make them more useful.

15 creative uses for Google Hangouts

Continue reading 15 Creative Uses for Google Hangouts

How to Contact Google for Google+ Issues

While I love using social networks to help market by business and to help others, one thing I find challenging is getting help.  In most cases, you’ll often find a lot of people with similar questions on various web forums, but very few answers. We’ve compiled a list of the best way’s to contact Google about any issues you are having with your Google+ account.  This way you can get your issues resolved faster.

How to contact Google

How to contact Google

Continue reading How to Contact Google for Google+ Issues

Make 2013 Your Best-Ever Year: A 12-Month Plan For Social Media Success [INFOGRAPHIC]

2012 was the year of social media.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest all experienced tremendous growth in social media.

So how can you as a business, capitalize on the success of these growing social networks in 2013? First, you need a social media plan.

No, you don’t have to get your calendar out and start feverishly writing. Instead, there’s a handy infographic that can help you figure out what you need to be doing each month to reach social media success in 2013.

A few of the key steps include:

  1. Assessing your social fitness
  2. Revisiting your social goals
  3. Becoming a better listener
  4. Integrating all of your social platforms, and
  5. Planning for the future
  6. ….

Continue reading Make 2013 Your Best-Ever Year: A 12-Month Plan For Social Media Success [INFOGRAPHIC]

How to Record A Google+ Hangout

Record a Google+ Hangout

You’ve probably heard of Google+ hangouts.  If not, here’s what they do.  Google+ hangouts let you host video conferences with nearby friends, family across the globe, and hold important meetings with business partners and customers.

A few facts about Google+ hangouts:

While that’s pretty impressive for a free product, what I’m most excited about with Google+ hangouts is the last one – you can record them (through “On-Air”).

Why is it so remarkable that you can record Google+ hangouts?

Continue reading How to Record A Google+ Hangout

Social Media Hex Color Codes

Social Media Color Hex Codes

Knowing the right social media color when working in Adobe Photoshop Elements or your favorite graphics program can help save you valuable time when you need to create a social media icon or match your design to your favorite social network.

Here’s a list of the the hex codes for your favorite social media sites. Be sure to bookmark this page this way you have the right social media colors when you need them.

Continue reading Social Media Hex Color Codes

How to create a Google Plus badge in 4 easy steps

While Facebook has been the dominant social network for the past couple of years, a challenger has entered the ring by way of Google+. While most sites have dared to go toe-to-toe with the behemoth that is Facebook, Google+ hasn’t shied away. In fact, in Google’s recent earnings call, they cited 90 million subscribers – a substantial number, considering they haven’t been around but for just a few months, Google has also been really good at listening to their subscribers for new features.

Today we’re going to show you how you can capitalize on Google+’s growth by adding a Google Plus badge to your website in 4 easy steps.

Continue reading How to create a Google Plus badge in 4 easy steps