Google Plus is an essential business platform overlooked by a vast majority of marketers who place most of their focus on Facebook and Twitter. To highlight the value in using Google Plus, we've decided to make it the first priority for our new web site and social media engagement.
“Why should Google Plus deserve more of my time, one might ask?” For starters, Google Plus is linked to Google and YouTube, the largest search engine and video sharing platform in the world. When content is posted on Google Plus, it is indexed in search engines, which highly increases SEO visibility; especially when others on your Google Plus network deem your content worthy of sharing with their own connections. Currently, Google Plus has 343 million users (source: http://www.statista.com). And for businesses with a physical location, Google recognizes addresses through a simple verification, which increases the chances that your business will show up in local searches; again, highly effective on an SEO and branding perspective.
Google Plus’ interface works similar to Facebook, allowing users to post and share rich content. Of the two social media platforms, Facebook usage is likely to be among friends and family, while Google Plus is likely to attract a network of people that share similar interests, making it great for business purposes.
One of the best Google Plus features is Circles, which allows users to selectively share and receive information among different groups (friends, colleagues, employees, communities, trade organizations, influencers) and easily filter out postings and content you may not have much interest in.
Other features on Google Plus that top Facebook and Twitter are: Video Conferencing capabilities (often used for live webinars); and Google Insights, which works much like Google Analytics allowing Google Plus users to track views, shares, dates ranges and much more valuable data.
While this topic can go on, the most important reasons for using Google Plus are the benefits of website search engine and social media visibility. The key to success on Google Plus is content- the more you create, the better the chances of growing your base.