Dustin Stout

Google Plus

Evergreen Google Plus Productivity Social Media Images

  • Official Google+ Logos, Icons and Templates [Free Download]

    Official Google Plus logo assets along with all the prominent icons of Google Plus. Oh, and bonus templates as well!

    If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s outdated icons, knock-off logos and flat-out poor-looking visuals. So I’ve set out on a mission to give people access to the best of the best.

    Today I’m taking it a step further.

    Because Google+ is my favorite network and I love seeing my fellow plussers thrive, I’ve giving away all my Google+ goodies for free.

    • Logos
    • Icons
    • Templates

    The hope is that this will save you time searching for the right logos or icons and allow you to have the best, most current and accurate versions. Additionally, my templates cover all of your visual needs on Google+.

    Let’s dive in!

    Google+ Logos

    The official Google+ logo in its current form is one of great misuse. Even some of the best Google+ pros can sometimes mistakenly use the outdated version of the official Google+ logo.

    Here is what the official, current logo looks like:

    updated google plus logo 2016

    The official Google+ logo is a solid red square with Google’s signature lower-case ‘g’ and a plus sign that is centered on the ‘g’. Notice how the square is a flat color as opposed to a gradient and the ‘g’ is in full view as opposed to being in the corner, cut off. The plus sign is not at the top of the ‘g’ but (again) in the center of it.

    For the sake of versatility I’ve compiled for you a few different versions to suit a multitude of use cases.

    Included in this download are:

    • Full official Google+ logo (written out)
    • Official Google+ logo (icon)
    • G+ icon isolated without the square
    • All versions in full-color and white

    I’ve also made sure they are large enough for you to use on any of your social media images. Better to start too big and scale down than to have it be too small and scale up.

    Download all

    Google+ Interface Icons

    I spent a lot of time finding all the different icons used across Google+. Then I meticulously recreated all of them in a vector format so that I could use them on mine and client projects.

    My Insiders have had access to these for some time now. Many have emailed me to personally thank me for them and show me how they’ve put them to use. I’ve just updated the set with a few new icons just for this post.

    Here’s what’s included:

    updated google plus icons 2016

    There are 28 icons in total covering Circles, Photos, Google+ for Business, Stream, Google+ Pages, Notification icon, post-type icons and every major feature (such as Hangouts, Communities and Local pages).

    Download all assets

    Google+ Templates

    One of the reasons Google+ is such a powerful platform is highly visual and many different ways of expressing your brand through visuals.

    In this set I’ve Created a template for every possible visual you might create for your Google+ presence and activity:

    google plus templates
    • Profile photo template: Pretty simple square at 500×500 but with a circle in the center to show you where your photo will be cropped in the Google+ interface.
    • Cover photo template: Because you want to take advantage of that big beautiful cover photo area on your profile since it shows up as part of your Google+ card. (I’ve also previously released cover photo templates for every major social network.)
    • Event page template: Sized exactly right with proper guidelines to make sure you’re not cramming too close to the edges.
    • Hangouts On Air Thumbnail template: For use with Hangouts On Air Trailers. Can actually be used as a thumbnail template for any YouTube video. Also doubles as the ideal image dimensions for a Google+ post.
    • Lower-third template: Use this to create lower-thirds for your Hangouts. Optimized to make sure proper spacing and sizing is already figured out for you.
    • Community Photo template: Because it’s not exactly a square but they want you to upload a square, but it’s not obvious where it’s going to get cropped. Problem simplified.
    • Poll template: Making sure you know where to place your content so that it’s not covered up by any of the interface.

    Each of these templates has been measured out and optimized for placement of your content with framing guidelines. You may want to take a quick read of my visual content design principles to see why framing is important.

    Download all assets

    All Assets, One Download

    I’ve bundled all of these Google+ assets into one single download for your convenience. Simply add your email below and click the download button.

     

    One Last Thing

    All of the logos, icons and templates made available here are in either JPEG or PNG format. They should be more that sufficient for all your Google+ content needs.

    However, I’m going to do something crazy and give full access to Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator files to my Insiders this weekend. Once I finish making all the files super tidy and organize, my Insiders list will see them on their private downloads page along with every other downloadable resource I’ve ever shared.

    So if you’re not on my Insiders list yet— get on that thing asap by clicking the button below:

    Join the Insiders!

    And once you finish downloading all your goodies, please let me know where I can see the awesome things you end up creating with them!

  • The Anatomy of a Perfect Google+ Post

    There is a reason that certain people get more engagement, more followers, and are more successful on Google+ than others. A lot of it has to do with they way they craft their posts.

    In this post I’ll go over the anatomy of a perfectly crafted Google+ post. Seven components that, if executed properly can make your post look like they were written by a pro.

    And just FYI, my Insiders get exclusive access to downloadable resources and my best email content. Get on the list by adding your email:

     

     

    Why Should You Care?

    Let’s face it– the internet is plenty full of garbage. There’s more than enough bad content littering the digital space than we could possibly consume in a lifetime. If you want to make your ideas and creativity stand out you must take the time to do things with excellence.

    On Google+, the audience there is highly engaged and they have a low tolerance for spam. So don’t expect to phone it in or put your Google+ activity on autopilot and get a good response. But when you take the time to put a little craftsmanship into your posts, it really pays off.

    So here’s a few tips to make sure your posts stand out and get the proper attention they deserve.

    The Anatomy of A Perfect Google+ Post

    1. Title

    Start with a title, just like it were a blog post. If you’re posting a link to a blog post, just make it the title of that blog post. If you’re only making a casual Google+ post, give it a title anyways to give people a taste of what to expect.

    Be sure to also use an asterisk (the * symbol) at the beginning and end of your title. Google+ will then make everything between the first and second asterisk bold. That’s how you get the bold title effect.

    If you have a tagline, or maybe a second part to the headline, it adds a bit of extra flair to use underscores (the _ symbol) at the beginning and end of the sentence which will make the line italicized.

    2. Summary

    Take a few sentences to explain what you’re sharing. Tell people what it’s about. This isn’t Twitter, so don’t worry about it being less than 140 characters. Google+ers like substance.

    If you’re sharing a link to a blog post, this is where you want to hook the reader and give them a reason to click-through to the full article.

    Don’t just tease though, because nobody likes a tease. Really share something from the article that would make it worth clicking through. Maybe share a few of the best points from the full article or a summarized bullet list.

    3. Link

    Give the reader a clear link to the article or blog post you want them to click-through. If you’re not sharing a link, then just ignore this step.

    If you are sharing a link, it’s best to use a URL shortener like goo.gl, bit.ly or other similar service. Beyond just making it look prettier by not having a ridiculously long link in there, these services also allow you to track how many times that link was clicked on so you can measure your efforts.

    4. Commentary

    Share your thoughts or perspective. If you didn’t already do this in the second part, give your readers a taste of your perspective. Let your opinion or perspective shine so people can hear that this is more than you regurgitating someone else’s content.

    How’s that for a visual– content regurgitation. Yum.

    5. Engagement

    Prompt people to respond in the comments. My favorite way to do this is to ask a question related to the article. Make it easy for them to engage with you by directing and sparking the conversation.

    6. #hashtags

    This is where you want to throw in any relevant hashtags related to your post. Make them specific, and don’t use too many because it can tend to make you look spammy.

    Personally, I think you can always get away with three hashtags or less. If you need any more than that, you may be trying too hard.

    7. Image

    Every good content creator knows that a relevant image is important. Google+ posts are the same way. Demian Farnworth would even tell you that this is the first step in the Art of Writing Great Google+ Posts.

    When you use a high quality image that is relevant to your post people are much more likely to read it, +1 and/or share it. This is important if you’re sharing a link to an article or blog post because all of these social signals will be directed right back to the link that you are sharing. (I discovered this during my Google+ experiments.)

    Additionally, using a high quality image makes it likely for your post to go full stream. In case you’re not familiar with that term, full stream refers to when a Google+ post is enlarged to cross over all of the columns in the stream. This makes getting noticed much easier.

    full stream on google+

    To increase your likelihood to go full stream, be sure to use a photo this is horizontally oriented as opposed to a vertically oriented.

    If you manage to hit all these points, you will surely grab the attention of many more eyes. Stay consistent at creating this level of craftsmanship in your posts and you’ll inevitably amass a legion of loyal followers who can’t get enough of your content!

    anatomy of a perfect google+ post

    Add this graphic to your own site:

    One Last Thing

    This formula has been proven time after time to get significant engagement for content. It’s not a magic formula that will give you over night success though. It’s simply a guideline for making your posts stand out amongst a sea of content.

    Don’t feel like you have to keep the same format over and over again though– do some experimenting. Components 1, 6 and 7 are pretty important to keep where they’re at, but get creative with how you mix around components 2-5. Keep it fresh so that your readers don’t get bored.

    For further reading, Peg Fitzpatrick has put together a fantastic post titled Five Easy Steps to Bake the Perfect Google+ Post.

    Have you seen some of the more successful people on Google+ using any or all of these components?

  • 4 Things I Learned From Going Semi-Viral On Google+

    Last week I came up with a funny idea for a graphic. I called it “The Most Talked About People On Social Media“. It had a photo of the most talked about people on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. As you can see those 3 people are Rihanna, Justin Bieber, and Albert Einstein. I had no idea that it would go semi-viral just a few hours after posting it on Google+!

    I came up with the idea after noticing day after day that Einstein was showing up on the “What’s Hot On Google+” feed (now located under the “Explore” tab). Everyday there is either an Einstein photo or quote that is seeing a lot of activity. Seriously, Einy is everywhere on Google+. And it sparked a thought that led me to search out who the most talked about people on Facebook and Twitter were.

    I found an article on Rihanna being the most talked about person on Facebook in 2012. That was easy enough to find, and credible enough to go with. And being that Bieber has more Klout than the President, and he’s constantly in the Trending Topics, it was a safe enough assumption that Bieber fever is the dominant force on Twitter.

    So this fun little graphic I created came out of my own observation and a creative humorous spin. Here’s what happened next:

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