Some business owners and marketers assume that because they have an active presence on other social networks they don’t need one on Google+. That thinking is wrong. Google+ has upwards of 343 million active users — more active users than on Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Tumblr. And while Facebook still boasts the highest number of users, people are turning more and more to Google+ to connect with friends and businesses. To find out how a strong Google+ strategy can help your business, read on.
Social Media “Google-fied”
The first thing to know about Google+ is what makes it different. In addition to the sharing and upvoting (in this case, “+1’ing”) that you may already be familiar with, Google+ has a unique “circling” concept that allows you to segment the people you connect with into groups. Groups might be customers, work colleagues, brands, friends, etc., and you can choose what to share with each group.
Google+ also places a heavy focus on video chatting or “Hangout.” People can use Hangout with their friends and family, and brands can take advantage of Hangout with fans and advocates in a webinar-style presentation or to even talk face-to-face.
Building a Brand Following and Community
One of the real benefits of Google+ for business is its ability to help you build a community of followers that are invested in your company. Much like other social platforms, you can connect with and build a list of people who are likely to make repeat purchases and give referrals. As you interact with these fans directly, you can build a positive image, address potential problems and complaints, and keep your business at the top of people’s minds.
On your business page, you can share coupons, promotions, new product or store information, contests, blog posts, news articles, inspiring quotes, surveys, and more. You might also consider “humanizing” your brand by posting stories about your employees and company history. You’ll want to be careful, though, not to post direct calls to action (sale announcements, product descriptions, etc.) too often. Go for an 80/20 mix, where you spend only 20 percent of the time asking your customers to do something (i.e., visit your website, make a purchase, etc.), and then spend the rest of the time interacting with them and posting things they find interesting.
Another important thing to do is to get active on Google+ community pages — and even consider creating a community page of your own. For example, if you own a pizza restaurant in Florida, you might consider joining food communities having to do with eating local, cooking, recipe sharing, organic, people who love pizza, etc. You could also create your own community that’s not directly tied to your brand but is still closely related (i.e., “Pizza Eaters of Tampa Unite” or “Eating Out on a Budget”).
Both of these strategies will get your brand in front of more potential customers. Post as your business, but don’t spam the community (even one that you own!) with too many posts about you. You can share promotions if they’re relevant, but be very, very careful how you do it and how often you do it.
Importance to Paid and Organic Search
Another important reason to use Google+ (and some would say the most important reason to use Google+) is its influence on Google organic and paid search. You probably don’t need me to tell you how important it is to get a good position on a Google search results pages. People are using Google to search for businesses that sell products like yours, and if they don’t see you at the top of their search results, they’re likely purchasing from your competitors.
So how does Google+ affect your business’s Google rankings?
Provides a fresh and interesting content signal. Google wants to provide a good user experience and ranks content and businesses that provide people with the information that they’re looking for. If people are +1’ing and interacting with your brand and your content, this tells Google that people are interested in you and what you’re doing.
Indicates relevance. Google+ posts are crawled and indexed almost immediately. If your posts are optimized correctly, they can serve as a signal to tell Google what your business is about. If possible, try to create posts that relate semantically to topics/keywords that you care about. A word of caution: be natural and don’t go overboard. Your first priority should always be to the people you’re interacting with, not Google.
You also should add the Google Publisher tag to your business pages. This will help Google connect your website and your Google+ page, and it may help you get a “rich snippet” in search results.
Integration with Other Google Products
One final reason to get on Google+ is its seamless integration with other Google products like Gmail and YouTube. People are already using these platforms, so why not meet them where they’re at?
Measuring Your Results
Is what you’re doing with Google+ working? The only way to find out is by measuring and tracking your results. Pick a starting point and then measure how you grow from month to month. Experiment with posting schedules and topics, different communities, and types of posts (links, videos, images) to see which effort produces the best results in terms of +1s, new followers, and comments.
Also keep track of any visitors to your website or calls that come in from your Google+ brand pages, posts, and communities, and use Google’s Tag Manager to collect data about specific campaigns and efforts. Finally, you should also take a regular look at your Google rankings to see if your efforts are making a difference. If what you’re doing isn’t working, change it up.
Social Media “Google-fied”
The first thing to know about Google+ is what makes it different. In addition to the sharing and upvoting (in this case, “+1’ing”) that you may already be familiar with, Google+ has a unique “circling” concept that allows you to segment the people you connect with into groups. Groups might be customers, work colleagues, brands, friends, etc., and you can choose what to share with each group.
Google+ also places a heavy focus on video chatting or “Hangout.” People can use Hangout with their friends and family, and brands can take advantage of Hangout with fans and advocates in a webinar-style presentation or to even talk face-to-face.
Building a Brand Following and Community
One of the real benefits of Google+ for business is its ability to help you build a community of followers that are invested in your company. Much like other social platforms, you can connect with and build a list of people who are likely to make repeat purchases and give referrals. As you interact with these fans directly, you can build a positive image, address potential problems and complaints, and keep your business at the top of people’s minds.
On your business page, you can share coupons, promotions, new product or store information, contests, blog posts, news articles, inspiring quotes, surveys, and more. You might also consider “humanizing” your brand by posting stories about your employees and company history. You’ll want to be careful, though, not to post direct calls to action (sale announcements, product descriptions, etc.) too often. Go for an 80/20 mix, where you spend only 20 percent of the time asking your customers to do something (i.e., visit your website, make a purchase, etc.), and then spend the rest of the time interacting with them and posting things they find interesting.
Another important thing to do is to get active on Google+ community pages — and even consider creating a community page of your own. For example, if you own a pizza restaurant in Florida, you might consider joining food communities having to do with eating local, cooking, recipe sharing, organic, people who love pizza, etc. You could also create your own community that’s not directly tied to your brand but is still closely related (i.e., “Pizza Eaters of Tampa Unite” or “Eating Out on a Budget”).
Both of these strategies will get your brand in front of more potential customers. Post as your business, but don’t spam the community (even one that you own!) with too many posts about you. You can share promotions if they’re relevant, but be very, very careful how you do it and how often you do it.
Importance to Paid and Organic Search
Another important reason to use Google+ (and some would say the most important reason to use Google+) is its influence on Google organic and paid search. You probably don’t need me to tell you how important it is to get a good position on a Google search results pages. People are using Google to search for businesses that sell products like yours, and if they don’t see you at the top of their search results, they’re likely purchasing from your competitors.
So how does Google+ affect your business’s Google rankings?
Provides a fresh and interesting content signal. Google wants to provide a good user experience and ranks content and businesses that provide people with the information that they’re looking for. If people are +1’ing and interacting with your brand and your content, this tells Google that people are interested in you and what you’re doing.
Indicates relevance. Google+ posts are crawled and indexed almost immediately. If your posts are optimized correctly, they can serve as a signal to tell Google what your business is about. If possible, try to create posts that relate semantically to topics/keywords that you care about. A word of caution: be natural and don’t go overboard. Your first priority should always be to the people you’re interacting with, not Google.
You also should add the Google Publisher tag to your business pages. This will help Google connect your website and your Google+ page, and it may help you get a “rich snippet” in search results.
Integration with Other Google Products
One final reason to get on Google+ is its seamless integration with other Google products like Gmail and YouTube. People are already using these platforms, so why not meet them where they’re at?
Measuring Your Results
Is what you’re doing with Google+ working? The only way to find out is by measuring and tracking your results. Pick a starting point and then measure how you grow from month to month. Experiment with posting schedules and topics, different communities, and types of posts (links, videos, images) to see which effort produces the best results in terms of +1s, new followers, and comments.
Also keep track of any visitors to your website or calls that come in from your Google+ brand pages, posts, and communities, and use Google’s Tag Manager to collect data about specific campaigns and efforts. Finally, you should also take a regular look at your Google rankings to see if your efforts are making a difference. If what you’re doing isn’t working, change it up.
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