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After looking at the abysmal numbers coming from Facebook organic reach on most fanpages, the platform just doesn’t provide the results needed for a majority of small companies and brands to stay active there.Many are looking for the next best thing. For some, the answer is Google+.

Why Consider Joining Google Plus for Social Networking

Google’s second attempt at a social media network has taken hold and seems to provide all of the best features of Facebook fanpages, Twitter home feeds and connection possibilities.

But is it the right place for your company? Let’s take a look!For years, I’ve worked with several Hubspot clients who utilize a variety of social networks, specifically for content distribution. In this time I’ve had access to years of analytics on their traffic and conversions, including information about Google+.

Time and again, while Google+ traffic was small (since it was a smaller platform, it often received less effort), conversions were always higher than the percentages from other networks, specifically Facebook, while Twitter fell in between.This alone doesn’t make it the best platform to commit your business to, but I’m not the only one who has noticed this.

In fact marketers all over the world have moved clients to Google+ because of the improved numbers. Just take a look at the number of blog posts each week talking about joining Google+.

In addition to the improved conversions, it isn’t as difficult with Google+ to harness traffic. With the clients I worked with, their primary focus (regardless of my advice) was on the largest platforms, but when time and energy is devoted to Google+ a lot can happen.

Why Is It So Easy To Use Google+?

I have my own theories on why Google+ is so much easier to work with. Not everyone will agree, but I don’t state my opinions lightly, so here they are.

• Google+ is much easier to grow on, building a following is similar to growth on Twitter, simply following others turns many into followers themselves. Being regularly active turns viewers of your profile into followers.
• Google+ has SEO benefits. They are Google after all, so links, posts, etc that are shared there are likely to improve search for your website.
• Google+ users are passionate, want to connect and in general are early adopters (forward thinkers who like to try something different and new) such as your company.
• People love video and as it happens Google+ has HOA (hangouts) where everyone can sit and visit live. The videos are saved to Youtube, and can later be used for other marketing purposes.
• Organization of who you are following, relationships, and circles is much easier on G+ than anywhere else.
• Google+ takes all of the best features from every social platforms and incorporates them into their own. From groups (communities) to images focused newsfeeds, and allowing everything you share to reach those you want it to (as long as they get on).
• Updates to your G+ page/profile live much longer than anywhere else, with the lower activity levels on the site.

Google+ Is Not Perfect

While they boast 350 million or more daily users, these people aren’t always active on the site. They might just browse, or use their login for other reasons, as Google forces integrated login.Finding active accounts to follow is more difficult with G+ because many are not active, nor is there a search function (that I know of) to find active vs nonactive accounts.Google+ offers very few tools access to their API. In fact many tools can only access pages on G+ and not profiles, while a lot of people using the service opt to have a profile.

Does It Fit Your Business?

In the end, G+ is a great option, especially if you are looking to be active somewhere other than Facebook. I still prefer Twitter to G+ but as more users get active, I think that may change. For now, I enjoy the speed of Twitter, the access to an endless amount of tools, and the same opportunities to connect. This being said, I can foresee a time when G+ will be a major focus for my online activities, especially with my focus on content and distribution.

The Most Important Elements

Before you run off joining Google plus, the one thing I urge you to do is figure out what your current return on investment is on the platform you are using. It’s important to think about where your audience is, because even if you do have to pay on Facebook, if you have thousands of fans who make it worthwhile (monetarily) it may be better to stay where you are, or work on both presences.Already a G+ user? Let’s connect! Visit my profile to follow here and I’ll follow you back- let’s work together to make this platform even better than the rest!

Resources To Get You Started On G+

I know several people on Google+ who love the platform and are always advocating its usage. By following them I’ve found several pieces that will help you get started on Google’s social media platform, have a look:

http://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/top-google-influencers-and-educators-08162013

Find out who the top users are and learn from them- by

+thesocialmediahat

Why G+ should dominate your social marketing in 2014 – by

+RebekahRadice

http://rebekahradice.com/google-plus-vs-facebook/

Looking for a little G+ help?

https://plus.google.com/u/0/114918475211209783081/posts/HCj5xzM3uLd

by

+martinshervington