Google+ has been around since June 2011, but many companies are just beginning to understand its potential when it comes to social media strategy. Creating a new social network profile might seem unnecessary and time consuming, but the advantages of utilizing Google+ are well worth your effort. If you think your company is covered on the social media front, but don’t have a presence on Google+, take some time to rethink this important social media platform.
Most marketers already know that having a strong social media strategy is important and they’ve most likely spent a lot of time developing these platforms for their company. Creating a Google+ business page will not only be a great addition to your current social media strategy, but it will offer you many benefits that other social media sites cannot. In addition to strengthening your social media strategy, and helping you form a stronger relationship with your customers, Google+ also helps improve your SEO rankings, so it should not be dismissed lightly.
Google+ offers the opportunity for more personal and direct relationships with customers and prospects, so if you haven’t already explored the platform, this is an untapped market just waiting to be discovered by your company. Google+ is another way to interact with and engage potential customers on a personal level, which can bring in more business, build trust, and improve customer service. It’s never a bad idea to create another way for customers and potential customers to interact with your company, especially if it can create more engagement with your company. Google+ is currently devoid of advertising, so fewer distractions might help visitors focus on your business page, instead of clicking on ads that will take them to different sites. Although this might change in the future, it still gives Google+ an advantage over other social media sites for now.
Not only can you form relationships with your customers, but you can also build mutually beneficial relationships with other businesses and marketers related to your company. Adding other businesses to your circles that might purchase from you leads to great B2B marketing potential. Google+ circles help you gain contacts and will help spread the word about your company even further. Being able to connect to the marketing community in a mutually beneficial environment can become an invaluable asset to your social media strategy.
Since Google essentially controls your SEO rankings, it makes sense to have a business page on Google+. Tying in Google’s Author Rank with your Google+ profile allows you to create an author for your site’s content. Through your Google+ account, you can gain more recognition by posting relevant content consistently and getting +1s on your content. The better the content and the more interaction the posts receive, the more trusted the author will become. These factors, along with the quality of backlinks to your content, social sharing of your posts, topical content, PageRank, and reputation all play a part in your Author Rank. Therefore, writing relevant content, claiming authorship of that content, and sharing it on Google+ will help your overall social media strategy and boost your SEO ranking. Considering Google measures all these factors for SEO purposes, building a well-rounded social media strategy and including Google+ is more important than ever.
Another important benefit of using Google+ is that your posts will show up in Google searches even if people aren’t following your Google+ profile. Having a social media page that is directly connected with Google is a great marketing advantage and will lead to added exposure.
Google+ is a free social media site that will help you build your company’s social media strategy and potentially bring in more business. Not only can you develop relationships with customers and other businesses, you can also improve your SEO rankings by sharing relevant content on your Google+ profile, which will lead even more potential customers and connections to your business page. If you’re looking for ways to reinforce your brand, build a trustworthy reputation, and add to your content strategy, Google+ is a great idea.
Keep in mind that Google+ is just one part of having a well-developed social media strategy and marketing strategy. Starting a Google+ page for your business will help you get started, but it should be an addition to your current, ongoing marketing efforts. Content is an important part of any marketing strategy, so finding more ways to integrate it with your social media will be extremely beneficial.
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