Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Google+ Customised URLs - the rollout starts

I have one recommendation.  Do NOT start the process of claiming Google+ custom URLs late at night!

I made that mistake.

I just hope I've got everything written down as I found the whole process totally confusing.
A custom URL is a short, easy-to-remember web address that links directly to your profile or page.

The story so far

  • Google seems to be doing an awful lot of updates all at once.
  • Late tonight (here in London) it started to send out emails about claiming your own customised URLs.  
  • I ALWAYS make sure I claim 'names' associated with me (eg like "KatherineTyrrell" !) quickly so I wanted to make sure I got it done rather than forgetting about it in the morning
  • it's a lot more confusing than they make out - so much so I didn't think I could even begin to explain it because it's late at night
  • return to the first sentence of this blog post!  Leave yourself a big note of what needs doing tomorrow instead!

What I can remember!

I don't guarantee that all of this is accurate or complete - but this is what I can remember about the process
  • If you're eligible for a customised Google+ URL you will be sent an email
  • To be eligible you need to have the following:
    • A Google+ account or Page which is 30+ days old
    • a photo for the site (but note that my photo for my Making A Mark site is the avatar not a photo of me)
    • have 10+ followers
  • You have to agree to the Terms of Service relating to Google+ - which is very obviously targeted at weeding out spammers and unsavoury material/behaviour
  • To claim the customised URL you have to supply your mobile number for a validation check. (It seems as if there is going to be some sort of limit introduced on the number of accounts which can be associated with one number)
  • There seems to be some sort of suggestion that they might start charging for customised URLs in the future.  I'd say this would be commercial suicide if Facebook continues to be free.
  • There's a complete mess associated with getting a non-gobbledygook email address associated with the Google+ PAGE.  That bit really needs to be made a lot simpler and more transparent.
  • I'm still not sure why I was setting a password for my Page or setting up a new email account for it!
As always I'd recommend you record what you;re doing as you do it so you can make sense of it later. I've got a page of notes but I seemed to end up in a loop at one point with a huge number of tabs open trying to make sense of the Page bit.

At the end of this post are links to more information and advice about customised Google+ URLs

Where you can find me on Google+


Anyway - the nuts and bolts are that I now have a customised Google+ URL for:

My Katherine Tyrrell Google+ account 

Artist and writer - or is that writer and artist?  Anyway I write about art and create websites to share info about art! 
Author of Making A Mark - rated #3 in the top 25 art blogs in the UK and somewhere in the top 20 in the world. 
See the side column of any of my blogs for details of how to contact me
On Blogger since December 2005
The view at the top of my Katherine Tyrrell Google+ account
This is the view from the Tate Modern end of the Millennium Bridge across the Thames

My PUBLIC Making A Mark Google + Page 

Making A Mark @ Google+ is about sharing all the updates from my activities on various sites in one place. So that includes posts from my art blogs, photos I've taken at exhibitions, information about art and artists from my information websites.
The view at the top of my Making A Mark Google+ Page
This is the view of Charing Cross Bridge from the room Monet had in the Savoy Hotel

Links to more information about customised URLs for Google+

These are links to pages which say a bit more about customised URLs

Over to you!

  1. Have you received an email?
  2. What do you think of the suggested URL?
  3. Are you going to claim a customised URL?

Posted by Making A Mark on Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Categories , , ,

1 comment:

  1. Lisa CallThursday, October 31, 2013

    I am only able to get a customURL for my art business page on google+ but not my personal profile.

    It's a little frustrating because I want to use +lisacall for my personal profile and +lisacallfineart for my art biz page - as that will match what I use on facebook.

    But at the moment - that isn't an option.

    Not sure very many artists use the businesses pages on google+ but an FYI for those that do - if you don't see the customURL on your profile it could be on your page.

    ---lisa

    PS - the bonus of the business pages on goggle+ is you can use hootsuite to schedule updates. Something you can't do with personal profiles yet.

    ReplyDelete

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