Google Plus or Google+ has been around for several years and mostly people consider it to be an imitator of Facebook but it is so much more than this. For the average personal user, Google+ offers some amazing integrations, particularly if you use products like Google apps to manage your calendar and your contacts. It offers very simple ways of selecting who you share information with via “circles”. This feature is much more straightforward and obvious than a similar feature on Facebook.
In reality, Facebook is huge and no-one will ever knock it down. But most people are on Facebook because most people are on Facebook. You don’t dare not be there as you will miss out on so many friends and their updates. But in reality, it cannot grow any larger and as our newsfeeds become more congested and our friends guilty of over-sharing, we will see more and more people turn away from Facebook. I am certain we all know of people who have come off Facebook or are taking a break from it.
So Google+ is great for your everyday person in the street as a serious alternate social media platform to share your life with your friends. But as a business owner, Google has invested heavily in Google + making it an amazing business tool for you. My favourite tools on Google + that you can use in your business are:
- Hangouts: Google hangouts allows you to connect with your customers. You can chat one on one or broadcast webinars. You can also record these hangouts and the recording is automatically optimised ready to be posted to youtube. It is so simple and easy. It really takes a lot of the complexity out of internet videos.
- Communities: these feature can in no way be compared to Facebook groups. It is so elegant in its design and layout. You can set up a closed community for your VIP customers or create an open community to share information. The set up your community can be customised and all postings can be grouped according to topics that you set. This makes searching and responding a much simpler task than on Facebook groups.
- Pages and posting: we all know that having a presence across social media enhances your SEO but the only posts that you make on any social media platform that will improve your SEO are those that you make on Google+. Google have kindly put this free tool in to the hands of savvy business owners who have a Google+ page. By regularly updating and posting on your page, you are actively working on improving your own SEO, all at no cost.
If you would like to get your business on Google+, I have a terrific offer for all of my newsletter subscribers. I will set up your page (including creating a gmail account if you don’t already have one) as well as a designed cover and profile image using your logo, completing all content and getting you on Google Maps for $198. Please email me on sarah@www.osb.dev to take up this great offer.