For those that don’t know, Google+ is the social network from Google. It can almost be described as a combination of Facebook and Twitter. There are a lot of similar features as well as some unique features on Google+, but there are still a large number of people who are neglecting this platform from their social media marketing strategy.
Google+ is the second largest social network in the world
Second to Facebook and ahead of Twitter, Google+ is the second biggest social space in the world with 359 million active users on the network. This figure alone should be enough to persuade more people to make use of the network for social marketing. It isn’t though, companies all over still don’t see the value behind the search giant’s social network yet. With the second largest audience available on social today, neglecting Google+ from social marketing could mean you’re missing out on a potentially massive audience.
Google+ can directly affect search engine rankings
Unlike other social networks, Google+ has the power to actually affect the rankings certain people see. When content or links are shared on Google+ and given +1’s (Google’s equivalent to FB likes), this content will appear higher for people connected to the person who originally shared the content. Much like with SEO linkbuilding, a +1 or reshare is seen as a vote of confidence towards that specific website, giving it more prominence in the search results when a search is carried out by a signed in user.
Everything in Google+ is connected
Google accounts are now ubiquitous, meaning that the Google services are all connected through one account. Services like Gmail and YouTube can be accessed via a single Google account. Google has grouped their services under one login in an attempt to create a space for all your internet needs, accessed through one area. It makes it simple to inter-manage different Google services, no matter what platform you’re on.
Google+ Authorship
This is a service from Google that can be used to specifically attribute content to an author. Not only does this give you increased exposure within search results with a direct link to your Google+ profile but it prevents people duplicating your content ranking higher than you for it. The necessary authorship tags go in to your website and when you post new content, Google automatically flags your website as the original publisher and owner of the content. Having authorship in place can change the way results look, including a Google+ profile image and direct link within rich snippets in the results:
Collects social networks outside of Google+ together
Within Google+ pages, there’s a handy little option that lets you add your own links to your page. This can be used to store other social links to your other social platforms, making it easier for users to discover you across multiple social networks. You can also submit links to your blogs or websites, allowing more strength to be passed over to them, another way it can affect rankings.
Google+ posts are almost web pages
As Google is the most popular search engine, it’s only natural for them to be slightly biased to their own social network. When posts are made on Facebook or Twitter, there are usually issues with caching and having that post appear in the organic results. Posts made on Google+ are treated almost the same as HTML web pages in regards to how they’re cached. Anything you post on Google+ has the potential to bring you business through the rankings.
Google+ local and reviews
In an effort to bring all the services together, the old Google Maps has been brought in to Google+ under the guise of Google Local. These pages can be set out just like the old maps used to be, only these pages have their own voice and profile within Google+. From these local page, people can leave reviews just like with the old maps interface.
