How To: Use The Google+ Notifications System To Dominate Your Competition!

With so many people posting content throughout the day, it can be difficult to make sure you keep track of the topics that are really important to you. If you are just a few minutes off, you could totally miss something that would have rocked your world because it was flooded out by a barrage of cute kitty photos.

Don’t you wish there was a way to use the Google+ notification system to be notified of certain topics that you want to follow? Or even better, do you want to give your followers a way of being notified every time you post about certain things? Well, you’re in luck– we’ve found a way!

Well, maybe not 'World' domination, but definitely to dominate competition!

Thanks to a brilliant science enthusiast, Jonathan Langdale, we’ve found a way to use Google’s photo tagging feature partnered with the notifications system to create a sort of “subscription notifications” system. Here’s how it works:

Let’s say, for example, I want to allow people the option to get notified on Google+ whenever we post a new article on GPlusTuts. Meaning, every time we post something new on GPlusTuts, they can get a pop-up notification when we’ve added something new.

Create a static post with an appropriate image

First, I will need to start a new post and upload a designated photo that will serve as an “image anchor“. You will use this image anchor to allow people tag themselves in the photo. By tagging themselves in the photo, they are opting in to be notified of whatever subject or topic this image anchor represents.

Example: I used this photo-

And wrote the following in the photo post:

Get an instant notification whenever I post about the topic of Google+ Tutorials! Just tag yourself in the photo below!

By tagging yourself in the photo below, you will get an instant Google+ notification whenever I post something new that relates to Google+ Tutorials (GPlusTuts.com).

How does this work? – well, I’m glad you asked! Basicly, whenever I post something about this topic, I will add the link to that post in the comments section of this post. Since you are tagged in the post, you will be notified instantly of the new comment.

Does that make sense? Hopefully it does! If so, go ahead and tag yourself. If you can’t tag yourself, it’s probably because I haven’t circled you yet. Odds are, if you have circled me, I will circle you back.

You can see the live post here.

Click to view the actual post!

Share the post

Once I have the image anchor uploaded and properly outlined, I’m simply going to share that post publicly. (It’s important to note that anyone who wants to tag themselves must already be in your circles.)

For another great example of how this is all done, visit the post by Jonathan Langdale (which is the original post that inspired this article) by clicking here.

Close comments

When I finally post the image, with the proper details, I’ll make sure to close the comments on that post so that nobody else can comment on it. Then, whenever I want to notify those who have tagged themselves in the photo, I’ll simply unlock comments, post the link to the new content I want them to see, then close comments again. Once the new comment is made, everyone who has tagged themselves in the photo will get an instant notification and can visit the post to get the latest update.

Save the link to the original post

Once the entire process is complete, I’ll want to keep the link to this anchor post somewhere safe so that I can revisit it whenever I want to update the people who have tagged themselves. (You may also want to talk about it in the ‘About’ section of your profile.)

And that’s it!

I hope that all makes sense! If you successfully complete this process, you are officially on your way to becoming a Google+ rockstar!

If you have any questions, comments, or need clarification on anything, please let us know in the comments below!