BEST PRACTICES

Google+ Community Managers

From Google+ Create
and
the Community Vanguards team

GOOGLE INC.
OVERVIEW

1 What are Google+ Communities?

2 Establishing your Community
3 Growing your Community
4 Sustaining an Active, Healthy Community
5 Moving Forward
WHAT ARE GOOGLE+ COMMUNITIES?

Communities are places to talk with other people

about common interests and discover amazing
things!
 WHAT ARE GOOGLE+ COMMUNITIES?

Quick Facts
1 Anyone can start one

2 A Community can have multiple owners and moderators working together

3 Communities can be public or private

4 Everyone has a different moderating style, but the most successful Communities

are actively moderated to promote healthy activity and monitor for detractors (like

spam)
WHAT ARE GOOGLE+ COMMUNITIES?

Start a Community about something

youre into, and find people with the
same interests!
WHAT ARE GOOGLE+ COMMUNITIES?

Learn a new craft and improve your skills!

WHAT ARE GOOGLE+ COMMUNITIES?

Share your work and get inspired by other

artists!
 BEST PRACTICES FOR

Establishing your Google+

Community
ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Set up your Community

Add a striking image as your
cover photo
Choose a clear title
Explain your focus in the
tagline

*Tip: Identify what makes your

Community stand out. Whats
unique about yours? Do you have a
specialized focus?

See step-by step instructions here

ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Write Community
guidelines
In the About section, tell your members
what your Community is about. Get inspired
by the Google+ Collections Community, run
by our Community Manager team!
ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Describe what your Community is about

It may seem obvious to you, but your members This Community is
may not be as familiar about the subject matter for cooks to share
as you are or know your intention for the their favorite recipes
Community. and tips.

Explain the purpose of the Community, as well as

what type of activity is expected and encouraged.
Post your original
photography to get
feedback from other
members.
ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Describe what it isnt

Links shared without
Define what type of activity is discouraged
any text or
and subject to removal from the
introduction will be
Community.
removed.

This might seem strict, but being up front

with these guidelines now will make them
easier to enforce later on.
This is a supportive space
and we will not tolerate
negativity. Please keep your
feedback constructive.
ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Organize your Community

In your guidelines and an introductory post,
describe what to post in each category.

Share your tried and

tested baking tips
and pick up some
new ones yourself!
ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Customize settings

Be public or private
Note: this cannot be changed later!
Require people to ask for permission to
join the Community (Ask to Join)
Hold posts for review so you approve all
posts before they hit the stream
Set some members as limited
Enable notifications to stay updated

Learn more about settings here!

ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Form your moderating team

A strong moderator team:
Shares responsibility
Helps each other deal with conflict
Fills in if someone is away
Coordinates shifts in different time zones
Understands a common goal for the Community

Tip: Moderating can be a full-time job! Delegate responsibilities to moderators

and coordinate shifts to make the workload more manageable. When its done
right, running a Community is fun and rewarding!
ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Find the right people

Find moderators that really care about the Community succeeding.

Set the right expectation:

Be clear that the role comes with responsibilities (and explain
what they are)
Being a moderator should be a privilege, not a reward

Keep them invested:

Moderators can lose interest unless theyre really passionate
about the subject matter and are invested in seeing the
Community succeed.
Sometimes moderating can feel like a thankless job
Show your moderators you value their contribution
ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Invite founding members

Ensure a strong launch with a foundation of invested members.

Seeds Community with first good posts, setting an

example for other members
Gives them a vested interest in the Community and a
desire to help it succeed
Helps keep engagement high
Potential moderators will reveal themselves from this
group
ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Delegate team responsibilities

Be clear on who will do what, such as:
Respond to member questions
Approve requests to join
Remove spam
Keep conversations on-topic
Write posts to initiate conversations
Actively invite members

Tips:
Ask your team to sign on every or every other day
Hold regular online meet-ups to calibrate as a team
ESTABLISHING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Set up escalation path and

scenario planning
Decide:
Who can remove posts and members, and when
(after two strikes? three?)
If a founding member or mod sees a post that
violates the community guidelines, what do they do?
How your team will communicate
Have an email thread among owners and
moderators, or even start a private Community.

Communication is key to a strong moderator team!

 BEST PRACTICES FOR

Growing your Google+ Community

GROWING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Set goals for your Community

Determine what success means for you, whether its:

Active engagement
A sense of community
A real-life meet-up
Membership growth*

*Tip: This is different for everyone - more members

doesnt always mean greater success! Some
Communities thrive as small-scale and/or private
groups.
GROWING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Reiterate your goals

Be clear about your purpose, tone, and expectation for the Community from
the beginning.

Remind members when needed

It may feel repetitive to you, but repeat the focus of the Community as
much as possible to your members.
If someone veers off-topic, kindly but firmly restate the purpose of the
Community and redirect the conversation.
GROWING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY
Welcome to the
Engage right away Community, David! Its great
to hear about your cooking
background. Please feel free
If a new member is posting in the Community for the
to share recipes here, and let
first time, make sure to greet them and make them
me or another moderator
feel welcome.
know if you have any
questions!
Making a good first impression helps to:
Make members feel invested
Keep members long-term
Keep engagement high
GROWING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Motivate & grow talent

Shout out exemplary members

Reference a post they made or a project they started
Give them a reward they cant get elsewhere:
Name top contributing members of the
week/month
Let top contributors choose contest theme
Top posts get promoted outside the
Community, such as in a public Collection
GROWING YOUR GOOGLE+ COMMUNITY

Plan for growth

Recruit members:
Search for relevant Collections on Google+ and invite
their creators to your Community
Add people you are already following on Google+ that
share your interests
Invite people off-network to join Google+ and your
Community.

Crowdsource referrals
Ask your members to refer potential members or invite
their friends
 BEST PRACTICES FOR

Sustaining a Healthy, Active

Community
SUSTAINING A HEALTHY, ACTIVE COMMUNITY

As a Community owner, establish

an environment that fosters
quality membership and
engagement.
Here are some things to consider in order to develop,
grow, and sustain your Community.
SUSTAINING A HEALTHY, ACTIVE COMMUNITY

Be a thought leader

Lead conversations on:

Technique
Tips and tricks
Creative ideas
General discussion

Tip:
Model the tone and behavior you want to see
from your members
SUSTAINING A HEALTHY, ACTIVE COMMUNITY

Involve the Community

Ask them to:
Share their opinions
Compare their technique
Ask questions of their own
Suggest topics or contest themes

Encourage shy users and show members you value

their contribution.

Tip: Dont hesitate to tag members in a post.

Sometimes people just need an extra push!
SUSTAINING A HEALTHY, ACTIVE COMMUNITY
Good question Maria! You can
Engage with members find advice from
photographers in the Tips and
Tricks section.
Keep conversations going
If you dont see the answer
Make sure every post gets a response from
youre looking for, post your
someone
question and one of the mods
Follow up with member questions as soon as
will follow up.
possible
Encourage your moderators to do the same
SUSTAINING A HEALTHY, ACTIVE COMMUNITY

Organize events outside the

Community

Organize a Hangout so members can meet face-to-face.

Regular Hangouts can help people get to know each
other better and feel more connected.

If a lot of your members live in the same place, plan an

offline event and meet up in real life!
 BEST PRACTICES FOR

Moving Forward
MOVING FORWARD

Communities checklist
Lets recap! The basic ingredients of a successful
Community are:

A consistent name, tagline, photo

A clear set of guidelines
A strong team of moderators
Good communication
Unique content
Active engagement
MOVING FORWARD

Get involved on Google+

Community Vanguards - new from Google+ Create!

In this exclusive program from Google+ Create, top
Community owners and moderators discuss best
practices for running active & successful Communities on
G+. Apply here.

Want to learn more about starting a Community?

Check out the Google+ Communities Help page for
instructions on setting up your Community and
customizing settings.

Have a specific question about Google+ Communities?

Post in the Google+ Help Community.
 Big thanks to the Vanguards members who contributed to
the making of this guide, as well as their Communities
featured throughout!

David Amerland - Fitness Paul Pavlinovich - Photograph Melbourne

Azlin Bloor - Foodies+
Johnathan Chung - Science on Google+
John Chvatal - Gazing Skyward Aviation Community
Shelly Corbett - stuckinplastic
Sonali Dalal - Sepia & Monochrome
Shane Dallas - Discover Yourself Through Travel
Nomad Dimitri - Foodies+
Jacob Dix - The Mobile Photography Community
Franoise Dhulesia - Sepia & Monochrome
Ben Gerber - Board Games
Martha Magenta - POETS the original
Raymond Mendiola IV - Star Wars Resistance
Matthew Miller - Craft Beer
Teresa Pilcher - Street Photographers
Ed S- Retro Computing
Mike Rigsby - IT Professionals
Fatima Sheikh - Health & Fitness
Jean-Loup Rebours-Smith - Marvel's Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Veronique Roelofs - Into Focus | Advanced Mobile
Photography
Paul Snedden - Sydney
Sran Stevanovi - Into Focus | Advanced Mobile
Photography
Margaret Tompkins - Landscape Photography
Moe The Gamefather Tousignant - Tabletop Podcasts
Arthur Turfa - POETS the original

GOOGLE INC.
 This deck was made for you by the Google+ team of
Community Managers. Share your feedback with us at
community-vanguards@google.com.

GOOGLE INC.