Give your blog its own Google+ identity

You can give your creation a Google+ identity of its own

I will cut to the chase: Your blog can have its own page on Google+ that, for all intents and purposes, is a Google account without your name.

Google+'s "first and last name required" policy is a challenge if you blog anonymously or with an institutional or business or group identity.

If so, Google+ pages are designed for you.

I've been testing a Google+ identity for another blog of mine. Here are my key findings:

• Google+ pages are, with some minor difference, the equivalent of G+ profiles, but for your blog, not for you.
• They can have multiple managers, none of whom need be expressly named on the page.
• A G+ page does not expose your own name unless you put it on the page.
• Setup requires at least one page manager with a G+ profile.
• In some ways, it's more work to use a G+ page to promote your blog than to use a personal profile—the choice is yours.

Setup is tricky enough to deserve some forethought. But a Google+ page can do anything in relation to a blog that a regular Google account can do.

Specifically, a G+ page can be a blog author or administrator, write blog posts, and leave comments—even regular Blogger comments—on any blog with comments enabled.

Update: Such a page can even start a blog.

These pages are intended for businesses, nonprofits, brands, web sites, and blogs.

Nonetheless, in my judgment, it will be harder for most bloggers to attract a following to a page than to a personal profile on Google+. (Not impossible. Just more demanding.)

You do need a Google+ profile to play, but that profile need not be associated with your blog.

That's because all G+ pages must be managed by at least one G+ profile account. When you set the page up you will need to do so using a G+ profile that is an administrator of the blog

But the profile does not need to be publicly associated with your blog, and the G+ page you create is not publicly linked to the profile (unless you add such a link to the page).

So with a little careful planning you can keep your online identities separate using a Google+ page.

Update: Here's how to set up a Google+ page.

Public-domain image of puppeteer Bill Baird (R) and Charlemane in 1963.