A Walkthrough of Google Photos on Android

The new Google Photos service was launched just a couple of weeks ago. Below is a thorough look at what the Android app offers and how it stacks up.

After months of rumours swirling around, Google Photos was finally unveiled at I/O 2015 - the company's fresh take on storing an ever-increasing number of photos and videos hassle-free. With new gestures for easier viewing, automatic grouping of people, places and things, improved sharing capabilities, and a revamped editing suite, Photos is ready to face the competition head-on. But will Google's strategy work?

For the purposes of this article, I’ll be referring to the Google Photos app for Android devices, though the iOS and desktop versions have the same set of features - minus the gestures for the desktop - so just keep this in mind.

How to Sideload the Google+, Hangouts and Photos Android Apps

You've probably had this experience before: after finding out the Google+ Android app has been updated, you head over to the Play Store, only to see that the update isn't available for your device yet...

Note: This trick applies to all APKs, including Hangouts and Photos.

Well, not to worry - there's a solution to this problem, so you won't have to endure the agonizing wait! It's called sideloading, which in less-geeky terms is essentially installing software, called an APK (Android application package), on your device which you have downloaded from the internet. Of course, sideloading doesn't come without some risks, so you must be careful on which websites you download the APKs from. One of the best websites to find APKs is apkmirror.com.

Quick Tip: Duplicate a Google+ Event

Google+ Events is one of Google+'s most used features especially for scheduling Hangouts On Air. However, if you are creating similar events often, it can become a mundane and time consuming activity. Luckily, the Google+ team thought of this and added the ability to duplicate an event.

How To Change the World With Google+

While Google+ can be a great place for building a brand and marketing a business, it's an even better place to change the world. In today's guest article, +Jessalyn Rae talks about how you can use Google+ to promote a social change message.

Most of us have figured out that Google+ contains tremendous opportunities for SEO, networking, and content marketing. All of these benefits are fabulous, especially for business owners.

However, right now I want to talk about a more subtle, yet very important benefit of the network--the immense potential for discussion. More discussion helps you spread your brand messaging. Loyal Google+ users prefer the network's in-depth conversation, sharing of ideas, and an accessible audience with similar interests over other social networks that are primarily used for personal sharing. For those seeking to highlight corporate responsibility philosophies, change public opinion, and spark passionate action, tapping into this demographic will be important.

How to Rock Your Google+ Branding Efforts

One of the most important part of any marketer's job is creating a strong brand, their company's (or personal) identity. In today's Marketing Monday article, +Carolyn Capern of CT Social tells you how to use Google+ to bolster your personal brand or that of your business.

In the days of the Old American West, no one really seemed to worry about fencing in their portion of the land. Cowboys roamed the Plains, guarding and herding cattle as they moved from one good grazing spot to another. These cattle typically belonged to wealthy men from the coasts (or even overseas), who had heard about the plethora of grazing land and would buy the cattle to raise and sell for beef.

It was a lucrative industry for a time, but the cattle barons had a problem. When one herd was grazing on common land with another, the cows would get mixed up.

That’s where branding came into the picture. The necessity of separating the cattle meant that the owners had to come up with a way to uniquely identify their property, which was done in the form of a visual image that was burned into the back ends of each cow in the herd. That way each cow could be identified at a glance, notated as a part of the proper herd.

Take control of your Google+ stream!

In today's "Marketing Monday" article, +Greg Trujillo of CT Social follows up his Google+ circle managment article with a Google+ stream management article to give you tips on how to take control of your stream!

When you log into Google+, the first thing you are going to see is your “All” stream. If you are like me, you are in several Google+ communities and have different circles for different groups of people. Depending on how you have these groups and communities set up, the “All” stream can become cluttered with a lot of posts that you may not be interested in seeing. This can make it confusing to use Google+ to communicate with people that you have decided to circle.

Leveraging Google+ for greater visibility in Google Search

In today's "Marketing Monday" article, +Greg Trujillo of CT Social discusses the Search Engine Optimization benefits of Google+ and how marketers can leverage Google+ for greater visibility in Google Search.

Since the launch of Google+ a couple of years ago, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts have been pointing out the advantages of using Google's social media network over others. The honest truth is, if you are attempting to increase your Google Search visibility, one of the quickest ways is through Google+.

“Hanging Out” for Google+ success

Not only is Google+ Hangouts great for connecting with friends, but it can also be beneficial for marketing, especially Hangouts on Air. In today's guest author article, +Carolyn Capern of CT Social gives insight into how to be successful when utilizing Hangouts.

When I say that I’m “just hanging out” with my friends, the assumption in the conversation is that nothing of any real substance is likely to happen. We’re just spending time together, relaxing, talking, and maybe watching movies or TV. No real agenda to the day…we’re just hanging out.

When Google launched their Hangouts service on Google+, it quickly became apparent that this feature could take the in-person idea of “just hanging out” to a whole new global level. Now, thanks to the power of webcams and real time video, I can spend holidays and birthdays “hanging out” with my grandfather in Ecuador, my parents in New England, and my sister in Canada. I can build face-to-face relationships with the people on Google+ that I may have never gotten to see beyond a profile picture. The quality of interactions goes up significantly when you can engage with others on such a personal level.

The personal benefits of Google+ Hangouts are fantastic, but the marketing potential is even better. In fact, for individuals and businesses that are looking to market themselves on Google+, Hangouts are a fantastic way to get to know others and increase your visibility in a low-budget, relationship-driven environment. Of course, this is where the agenda-free notion of “hanging out” usually goes away in favor of more specific topics of discussion, but the nice thing about Hangouts is that (just like a live-in-person meeting) they reflect the personalities and styles of the people participating.

Google+ Communities expanded: Using Communities to grow your marketing reach

Social Media Marketing has been a focus of marketers for a few years now. They've become comfortable with how to use Twitter and Facebook; however, many are still in the dark on how to use Google+ for marketing. In today's guest author article, +Greg Trujillo of CT Social discusses how Google+ Communities can be used to grow your marketing reach.

Google+ is an ever-expanding powerhouse for content marketers. Google has been working very hard to integrate Google+ into the majority of its services, while still providing value to the user. Although the integration into other platforms is powerful, the most powerful feature of Google+ still remains within the platform: a place where you could meet other industry professionals, local business owners, fans of the same sports team, or people who love space exploration. Google has made this possible with their addition of Google+ Communities last year.

Using Google+ for a Local Small Business

Many of the large companies like +ESPN, +BMW, and +H&M are using Google+ and have found it to be very valuable. However, many small businesses have yet to come to the same conclusion. +Jesse Wojdylo discusses why and how local small businesses should be using Google+ in today's Wojdylo Wednesday article.

Most Google+ users enjoy the engagement and interaction on a personal level but finding successful small businesses on the Google social layer is not so easy. Some of the major brands have discounted Google+ because they cannot get the engagement and interaction they receive on other social networks. What they do not realize is they are missing out on a huge audience that wants to consume their content. Recently, I started working with the Law Offices of David Azizi and I have learned quite a bit. A little bit of hard work and understanding of the platform can go a very long way when it comes to building a Google+ presence as a local small business.

[How To] Embed your Google+ posts into Google Earth

With the added ability to embed Google+ posts into a webpage, added an unforeseen benefit, the ability to embed Google+ posts into Google Earth.

Earlier this month, the Google+ team launched a new feature, embeddable Google+ posts. Thanks to +Adam Simmons, we've found that you can embed Google+ posts into Google Earth as well. The steps are simple and easy, and allows you to mark locations with special posts from there.

Tracking progress on Google+ [Wojdylo Wednesday]

In today's "Wojdylo Wednesday" article, +Jesse Wojdylo discusses the third-party tools available to track your progress on Google+ while we wait for native analytical tools from Google+.

From my early days of Google+, I wanted to track my progress in terms of reach and engagement. This can be nearly impossible without the proper tools. At this point, Google does not offer analytical tools for a personal Google+ profile. There are some analytical tools for a page but they have to be installed as part of HTML code. Most novice webmasters have yet to take advantage of these tools because they take time to understand and install. I am a numbers person so seeing my reach and engagement increase is important to me. Fortunately, there are a few third party tools that are available.

Why images are an important aspect of building your business on Google+

If you want to use Google+ to build your business, raise your visibility and position yourself with authority, it is absolutely vital that you build a picture of who you are and what your business is all about.

One of the best ways to do this is to give people something that they will come to recognise and you can do this is by using consistent branding and images throughout Google+.

Whether you are:

• Adding a personal profile cover
• Creating a business page cover
• Setting up an event
• Hosting a Google+ community

Branded images enable you to represent your business (and your business personality too...)

Rock the Right Dimensions for Your Cover Images

You have a massive cover image for your personal profile: 2120 × 1192 pixels..  That is a lot of space!

Now whilst my profile banner is not perfect - you can see here that I have made it both personal and I'm also telling people about my business too. This is important, because one of the first times someone may see you is on your profile, this is where they will come to find out more about you and the cover photo is the biggest area that will catch their eyes, so make the most of it!

[Quick Tip] Access the chat history for Google+ Hangouts

Have you wanted to quickly find some information from a previous Hangout chat conversation, but didn't feeling like scrolling up for a long time through all of the messages? Here's a time saver we think you'll appreciate:

There are two ways to access your Hangout message history. Because we're nice, we'll show you how to access your history both ways!

[Quick Tip] Formatting messages in Google+ Hangouts

Did you think that there was no longer an ability to format text in Google+ Hangouts? Then you would be mistaken! In addition to featuring a wide selection of emoticons, Google+ Hangouts also supports some basic text formatting.

The official Hangouts support page lists some quick and easy keyboard shortcuts for spicing up your messages:

[Quick Tip] View the All Notifications Page in One Step

The new bell notification interface has been rolling out gradually to users, and some of you may have noticed that it no longer has a link to “View all notifications” - as +Dustin W. Stout was kind enough to point out in a post, there’s a really easy workaround.

Update your Company’s Communication with Google+ Private Communities

Google+ Private Communities can boost your company's collaboration and efficiency while also keeping your information secure.

Whenever I'm asked for more information about Google+ Communities, the first thing I bring up is how easily they bring together people with common interests. The wide range of topics is truly remarkable, as users can find a place to discuss anything they can think of.

I also try to mention the privacy aspect of Google+ Communities. Public Communities are great for discussing topics of mutual interest, but sometimes there is a need to control who has access.

[How To] Sign Up for the Google+ Weekly Update Newsletter

We’re taking apart the official weekly newsletter of the most interesting things happening on Google+.

In October, the +Google+ page announced a weekly digest of their favorite people, Communities, Hangouts, and Events. It’s full of exciting content and really gives you a chance to see all of the big things going on around Google+. Now we’re going to break down an issue to see what it has to offer.

Every email greets you by name!

[Quick Tip] Search Google+ Ripples

Since Google+'s recent UI redesign, the search box has unfortunately been removed from Google+ Ripples which makes it hard to check out the Ripples for specific URLs. However, we found a hack for you!

Quick Tip: Use an Empty Circle to Bookmark Posts

Ever want to save a post to read later? At first glance, there's no simple way to do this. But thanks to the power of circles, you can quickly and easily create a private collection of posts.