In the midst of Facebook Timeline announcements, Google Plus was in stealth mode last week making changes to the Plus Profile and Pages cover photo and about pages. Perhaps I had my eyes shut most of last week, as I didn’t see much of a song and dance about it.
There was a brief G+ update and a quick “it’s rolling out” on Marketing Pilgrim and Google Plus Daily. To be fair, I didn’t pay any attention until I went to check my page was still there over the weekend.
Oh, and my Google Plus Page has done a disappearing act, currently showing a 500 error. It’s to be expected that it would fall over at some point as merged pages for services businesses are not supported and are advised to delete. I was being awkward and leaving it to see what happened next…
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Google Plus cover photo changes
The biggest change to profiles and pages is the cover photo. It’s massive!
The only good thing that can be said about an image that takes up most of the screen is that at least Google doesn’t have the similar ridiculous restrictions about calls to action or 20% wording as Facebook.
Google Plus Cover Photo Size
The minimum size for your new Google+ cover photo is 480px x 270px and the max size is 2120px x 1192px.
The new profile photo displays as a circular image and sits over the cover photo. The size for your profile photo is 250px x 250px square image.
Google Plus Profile Changes
The layout of both the profile and business pages has changed too.
On your personal Google+ Profile, your name, where you work, live and your circles are overlaid on the cover image in white text.
Business pages have your business name, address, phone and website overlaying the cover image, also in white text.
Because the overlay text is white, a dark cover photo works better and makes the text easier to read.
The about section has now become your story on both the page and profile. What I have noticed on several client pages is the about section has lost the line breaks and needs reformatting to read well. The problem now is changes to business details aren’t public until you merge pages – and this still is not advised.
The write a review button has changed colour and is now quite difficult to spot. If you do have a Google+ review procedure in place it is worth updating your videos and handouts to make it clear where this button is.
As you scroll down the profile or page your cover image becomes a strip at the top of the page.
What you need to do now
Now you need to update your cover image so that it accurately reflects your business.
When designing your cover photo remember that what people actually see will depend on how they landed on your profile and whether they scroll.
- Land on the about tab or scroll on any page, a small strip is shown.
- On your posts page the bottom 2 thirds of the image is displayed.
- It’s when you scroll up that the full giant image can be seen.
Ensure that the main focus of your new Google Plus cover image is in the mid third section because that is the area that is most likely to be seen and not covered by your business details. If you aren’t as creatively and graphically challenged as I am, there is a PSD template over at the AutoRevo blog
All is not lost!
If a ginormous cover image is not your thing, it is possible to edit the image and show a cover that does not take up to 90% of the screen.
With my not very creative skills, I took some pics of my dogs, pasted them on a 2120px x 1192px image template and then cropped it back down to size. The video below shows you how to do it too.
Over to you…
Have you updated your Google Plus cover photo yet? What do you think of the new layout?
Don’t forget to circle me on Google Plus too! Say hi and I’ll circle you back 🙂
New Google Plus Cover Photo and Profile Changes by Jan Kearney
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- Two things you should not neglect if you want to rank in the local search pack
- How to power past your competitors and dominate your area
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I think this is what they call “interactive” which means that you have to keep dinking with it. Thanks for all the numbers!
Dinking with it… lol Love that term, yes definately dinking!
I seen the new changes; Google caught me by surprise one day and asked if I wanted to change the photo size. I just left the page. Now, I’m not sure how to change it. ROFL
Oh well… more pressing matters at hand. This will just have to wait!
You and me both, Bonnie – saw the changes and then left them… It would be really helpful if they at least gave a bit of warning! Just click on your cover image to change it over, but yours looks fine to me 🙂
Thanks for the information Jan, and for the video.
I’d completely missed that, but as you say, I’m being prompted to change the page.
I’m just having a new header designed, so I’ll probably wait for that before making any changes – but at least I’m warned now!
Joy
It’s apparently slowly rolling out, Joy – I am sure it will keep prompting you 🙂
I have updated my image. I like the fact that there’s an active link to my website on the cover photo.
Yes, the link is much better at the top on the cover! Thanks for popping in, Toni 🙂
I thought I’d work on that image today 🙂
Hi Jan, thank you and appreciate the update on the changes. I have to admit that I’m not using Google+..trying to master LinkedIn, twitter and FB is enough right now:)
No need to master it, Debra – just be there and connect everything up. Google+ *is* Google, it’s far more than just another social network – and we do want to see your smile in the search results too!
Hi Jan
Brilliant tutorial, thank you! Google + can be such a confusing minefield. Ps love your break dancing hamster! 😉
I hope you were dancing along, Marcia! Thanks for popping in, great to see you here again 🙂
Hi Jan
Thanks for this – yes G+ were quiet about this
My first reaction was oh yes it is big!!
But us logo creator gals don’t get scared off by a big header space do we? lol
Sue
I need to get my headers sorted – yes I used Logo Creator to fix up a few clients 🙂 Mine, was a Gimp special for the vid – I didn’t need to think or be creative lol