Google+ for business: 10 reasons to give it a go

Google’s social media and sharing platform, Google+, has been around for over two years now. My previous experience with the platform involved joining back in 2011, adding some circles and sitting back only to hear crickets. Since then, I’ve been guilty of putting Google+ on the back burner and going on about my business. Maybe this sounds like you, or maybe you’ve never even considered Google+ since Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have you busy enough as it is. Either way, it’s time to give Google+ its props.

According to a new study by Searchmetrics, Google+ users will surpass those on Facebook in social sharing by 2016. That means you need to get with Google+ and get the momentum going now. Aside from that staggering statistic, here are 10 reasons why you should embrace Google+ for your business:

1. Google Authorship – Google displays your Google+ profile, photo, number of circles and other search results that are associated with you. This content ranks higher in search results, and can give your blog a much-needed boost in popularity.

2. Google Hangouts – what better way to connect with your prospects and customers than in a real-time video chat? Have parties, contests, get customer feedback and testimonials, interview them to draft your personas, host live Q & A sessions or product demos… you get the idea.

3. Author Rank – you now have more control over the weight of your content. Author Rank leverages the authority and credibility by author activity and engagement, not just the website where the post lives. The more active the author, the higher the posts appear in search results. Factors include number of circles, shares and +1s, etc. Search results with photos and authorship rank higher and are deemed more credible by Google and viewers alike. According to Internet Marketing Inc., authorship can improve click-through rates by 30 to 150 percent.

4. Even more search power – in addition to the benefits of Author Rank and Authorship, your Google+ posts can drive search results, even if your web page doesn’t. Each Google+ post is given a unique URL, which can appear in search results when there’s engagement with them in the platform. Pretty cool, huh?

5. Hashtags – sure, other platforms use hashtags, but the beauty of those on Google+ is that the platform will recommend hashtags for you, as well as reveal related hashtags when you do a search, improving the chances of your content being discovered.

6. +Post ads – If your page has at least 1,000 followers, you can use +Post ads to turn your Google+ posts into display ads that stream all over the web. Viewers can comment, follow, +1 and even join a Hangout directly with the ad, like any other Google+ post. This allows for true engagement and real conversations with your audience in real time.

7. Auto Awesome – being such a visual platform, Google+ has built-in features to ensure your photos and images look their best. Auto Awesome includes a list of features that for lack of a better term are just plain awesome. Features like creating an animated gif from stills, pulling the best smiles from different shots and combining them into one where everyone looks great, creating panoramic and action shots and more. There’s just no reason to have boring photos on Google+. Check out the photos below to see the Drama feature in action.

Have you signed up for your Google+ page today? Email me at heather@rep-ink.com for more info.