With Google+ establishing itself as one of the major social networks, marketers are now finding themselves juggling a handful of social platforms in order to establish a business or brand presence online. However, with Twitter and Facebook cementing their place in the social media sphere much earlier than Google+, marketers are looking at Google’s latest venture as ‘yet another network’ rather than an essential cog in the social machine.
They couldn’t be more wrong. Google+ actually contains a number of advanced features that can’t be found on other social networks, making a brand’s presence on the network a necessity.
Search engine visibility
One of the major attractions of Google plus marketing and is that simply having an account can affect a person or brand’s visibility on search engines. The content published on Google+ is ranked by the search engine, while the sharing function – similar to Facebook’s ‘Share’ or Twitter’s ‘Retweet’ – has a bigger search engine optimisation influence than other networks.
Furthermore when a person +1’s the account page, that page gets highlighted in the search results of their Google+ connections, giving a page even more visibility and increasing its audience reach.
Google+ is also a fantastic platform for content creators. Writers with personal Google+ profiles linking content to their profiles will also be more widely visible. Search results will display the author’s photo next to their article, making it more eye-catching for users and giving it more authority in the eyes of searchers. As a result, Google+ is an essential network for content creators looking to help their brand become more visible.
AdWords
With search engine optimisation and pay-per-click ads becoming increasingly higher on the agendas of marketers, it makes sense to capitalise on these marketing techniques as much as possible – especially if it requires no spend. As a result, marketers will be pleased to hear that Google+ is an efficient way to get the best out of your PPC campaigns.
By linking your Google+ URL to your AdWords ads, Google can help highlight your company ads above your competitors, ensuring your PPC ads are the most visible. In order to achieve such a feat, users need to +1 your company’s ads, which help to increase your firm’s Quality Score (which is how Google estimates how relevant your ads, keywords and landing pages are).
In turn, Google’s search engine is more likely to highlight your ads and raise your profile.
Hangouts
Google+ also gives firms the opportunity to video-conference with consumers and potential clients via its ‘Hangouts’ feature. Page owners can facilitate a virtual chat with nine others, which could be helpful to marketers looking to distribute advice. Furthermore, marketers can also stream webinars they have create via ‘Hangouts On-Air’. By simply pressing the ‘ON AIR’ button after a Hangout has started, Google+ allows people in your Google+ circles as well as YouTube account holders to view your webinar. These live videos can also be embedded on websites.
These features are but a mere three drops in an ocean of Google+ features which can benefit your brand. Instead of believing that Google+ is simply a Facebook clone, Google’s important, exciting network has a number of advanced features that can offer advantages that Facebook cannot.