Here we go again…
Yes… I asked for it. I deserve it.
Google made another major change to their social media site – Google Plus.
I have been wanting Google to change the size of their cover image for Google+ pages. It was always too small to really get enough information for good business branding for my clients. Facebook’s cover image was a much better size for branding. Finally, Google listened to my plea. However, they went above and beyond making it larger. They made it, well, GINORMOUS! (I have no idea if that’s how you spell ginormous – it’s not really a real word anyway – so we will go with that)…
The cover image size can now be up to 2120×1192! That is a lot to work with and more work on the designer (a.k.a. ME) to make good use of all that real estate.
In addition, depending on the size of the browser viewing the Google+ page and the page being viewed, the size of the image that is displayed can vary.
Now, the profile image is a circle overlayed on top of the image on the left with additional text info overlaid to the right of the profile image. There is a bit of a dark gradient overlaid behind the profile image and text to give more of a contrast to the image behind it. This means the cover image needs to not have any important information behind this overlay – because it won’t be seen well and will look bad.
The top portion of the cover image will not be displayed unless the visitor scrolls up to the top of the page. So, this is more branding real estate that is “wasted” since it won’t be seen most of the time. This leaves a center section of the cover image that is great for business branding information and the rest of the image just needs to be background filler (without important branding information).
So, Google has listened to the cry. However, it makes more work on the designer.
The Google update is another strong reminder as a business owner as to why it is so important to have your own website that you can totally control. Your business website needs to be the “hub” of your brand. Everything else should lead your customers and prospects to your website.
What if Google decides to put a bunch of your competitor’s ads at the top of your Google+ page? What if Facebook does the same?
Is your business immune to these possibilities? If you rely on social media without a website as your “hub”, you are at their mercy.
Do you need a website “hub” for your business? Do you want to be immune to social media site changes and updates that are out of your control? Do you want someone else to manage your online presence for you?
If you do, fill out this form:
http://magratech.com/get-started/
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