How to Make the Most Out of Your Google+ Profile

Over the weekend, Google made several updates to the Google+ profile. Here's how to make the most out of old and new features to make your profile page shine.

Basic Tip: Create a Profile Pic with Your Web Cam

Feeling spontaneous? +Denise Ho tells us that you can now snap a quick profile pic with your web cam. Just follow the steps below.

Step 1 Click on "Edit Profile".

Step 2 Select "change photo".

Step 3 Select "Web camera".

Click on "Allow" if you see the Adobe Flash Player Settings message below.

Step 4 Snap a picture! Or two, or three...

Google+ will keep the last four pictures you take. Just click on the "Take Snapshot" button to take the picture. You'll hear a "click" with each shot.

Tips

Tilt the web cam down a little bit.
Don't wear your glasses, since the glasses will reflect the monitor.
Take advantage of the natural light.

Add More Photos to Your Google+ Profile

The Google+ profile page has a section at the top, where you can add a brief description of yourself, and your "scrapbook"—(which is a row of photos you've selected). You can add up to five pictures here.

You can treat the description like a tagline. Mine is "I'm a toastykitten", since I've been using the "toastykitten" handle since college. It helps people identify me as the correct "Kim Lau"— (unsurprisingly, there are several out there). You can choose to limit who can view the description, or opt for public.

For the scrapbook section, click on "Add some photos here".

Click on the "Add Photo" box.

Select the picture you want to add to your scrapbook. You can only select one photo at a time, and you can select them from your existing Picasa albums, or from your computer. Once you've made your selection, click "Add photos to scrapbook."

From here, you can change who can view the photo, add more photos, or click "OK" if you're satisfied with the selection.

Tip

If you want to have more fun with the Google+ profile scrapbooks, check out GPlusPic. From here, without any photo editing, you can make a cool banner for the scrapbook, or a Google+ button profile picture.

Fill in the Blanks

Do you want people to find you? Are you trying to promote your company, yourself, or do just want people to find you cool enough to follow? Then tell them about yourself—what you're interested in, what you like to do, what you're all about. If you have a website or a blog, link to it in your introduction, so that people will know to go to it.

If you are open to being contacted, put it in the introduction. Underneath your profile picture, you have the option of allowing people to send you an email without revealing your email address. On the right-hand side are your links to other places where you may have a profile—your Facebook page, YouTube, personal site, etc.

All of the requested information fields on your Google+ profile page are optional, with the exception of your name. Although your name can be changed, make sure it conforms with the Community Standards that Google is setting, so that your Google+ account doesn't run the risk of suspension.

Verified Name Badges

You can't take advantage of this yet, but hopefully you'll be able to soon. Google introduced verification badges to identify the accounts of public figures, celebrities, and people who are really popular on Google+. +Wen-Ai Yu explains the process in the video below.

If you're really curious to see whether someone's verified or not, check out their name at the top of their page. They'll have a check mark next to their name, which you can mouse over to reveal a badge that says "verified name".