Before you create a Google+ account for your agency, make sure you know what you're going to do with it.

In June, Google launched its own social network called Google+. The current estimated of number of users of G+ are as high at 40 million compared to nearly 800 million for Facebook. Although neither company claims to be competing against the other, it’s clear to many social media observers that stakes are high as the one that comes out on top stands to wield considerable control over the future of the Web.

Google just launched Google+ for companies and organizations this week. At what point should law enforcement agencies incorporate Google+ into their social media programs? I was pretty excited to set up my own company page, but was somewhat disappointed once I had it created. Company pages seem to be much the same as individual pages. I was expecting many more marketing features.

I’ve long maintained that creating any social media profile should be preceded by proactive strategy development that’s in alignment with agency communication goals. The great majority of law enforcement agencies have Facebook, Twitter, even YouTube accounts without having first given any thought to what they’re going to do with them. Now that Google+ is available to your agency, first ask yourself if it makes sense for you to be there. Are any of your audiences there? Do you have a strategic reason—a business case—for justifying the page?

At a minimum, it would be a good idea to create a page to “hold” your agency name, and by all means, monitor to see if anyone is impersonating your agency (this goes for all social networks). Digital impersonators might be a big problem on Google+ as verification procedures don’t seem to have been established.

If you’re anxious to get started, once you have a personal profile you can create a page at https://plus.google.com/pages/create.

We will continue to update you on Google+ pages and will be providing more Social Media Quick Tips on how to leverage Google+ pages for your agency in the coming weeks.