Do businesses really need another social media presence like a Google+ page?

A brief look at the facts and figures….

  • According to a study by Global Web Index, Google Plus is actually the second largest social media network with over 359 million monthly active users
  • These figures put it ahead of Twitter with 200 million active users
  • Google Adwords campaigns can be more effective with Google+ additions, on average, search ads with Google+ annotations have a 5-10% increase in click through rates
  • Sharing new content through Google+ will have a direct effect within Google organic search listings
  • Unlike other social networks, Google Plus also has significant impact on SEO and search traffic volume

A picture begins to emerge; businesses not involved will be missing out on a valuable opportunity to promote their brand online.

What is Google Plus (or Google+)?

Launched in June 2011, Google Plus is effectively Google’s version of Facebook, a social media network where you can share, connect and follow with others.  Google Plus (G+) initially received bad press, many seeing it as a ‘ghost town’ however, Google are fiercely active in driving G+ forward and integrating it will all Google products and experiences.  For example, you can provide recommendations (+1’s) to your followers, link to your YouTube account to increase video sharing opportunities and add your Google+ profile to your search results.

Like it or not, odds are you will come across G+ more frequently as Google aim to integrate all Google products.  G+ has replaced Google Places and customers who are on Google+ can leave reviews on your local Google+ page (regardless of whether you are active on G+ or not).  Users will be prompted to leave a review if they search for your business on Google.  By producing mobile apps for local listings Google are aiming to further increase their resources to list local businesses.

G+ hosts several unique tools, Hangouts are a very quick and easy video tool that allows businesses to host a live-stream video call with numerous followers and best of all, no costs are attached.  The G+ ‘Circles’ tool allows businesses to separate out followers into groups and so create targeted content tailored to that specific group or audience.

Google+ versus Facebook and Twitter
Do businesses really need a presence on them all?

Recent research by Deepfield (a company that tracks cloud-based services for revenue) shows that Google’s servers now handle a massive 60% average of all internet traffic a day, with statistics this high a presence on Google+ surely cannot be ignored by an savvy marketing departments.

Google+ is in its infancy, any companies adopting to embrace this new platform will be rewarded as Google places a huge emphasis (could this be at the expense of ‘relevancy’?) on Google+ presences within its search engine results pages.  When you search for a brand on Google, the results will display the latest activity with that brands verified Google+ page.

‘Social extensions’ is a tool that links your Google+ page to your Adwords campaigns, so that all your +1’s from your page, your website, ads and search get added together.  This means more recommendations for your ads, helping inform users about your content.

Success stories on Google+ so far seem to highlight that it should not be a case of one social media platform versus another but nurture each community independently for premier results.  Twitter followers for example may be a separate community to those that follow your brand within Circles on G+.

Thinking of getting involved?

8 top tips for getting started on Google+:

  • Give your customers content that they won’t find anywhere else, this will help grow your number of followers.
  • Keep content timely, fresh and engaging, making your G+ page a useful resource for your followers.
  • Within G+ you can fully edit posts (unlike other social media platforms) so you can amend posts to keep them current and relevant.
  • Install a Google+ badge on your website to encourage people to follow your page and install a +1 button on articles and web pages to encourage content sharing.
  • Use the Hangouts to attract a wider audience and nurture existing relationships with followers.
  • Use Circles to share targeted content which you know will appeal to specific groups.
  • Install an ‘author tag’ (photo which appears with your content on search results).  With the inclusion of a photo, authors have managed to grab free traffic away from higher ranked websites.
  • The more people that engage with you, share your posts or link to your profile, the more valuable your links become.

 

Front Page Advantage can set up a Google+ page for your business and offer advice on best practices, if you would like to discuss this, please contact us today.