Better Business: The Google Pluses

Lorelei Gibb discusses the benefits of getting your head around Google’s social networking service

We have discussed the merits of Pinterest, Linkedin and Facebook already, but how about Google Plus? Do you need to add G+ to your social media portfolio? What benefits can it bring to your business?

Well for starters there were 343 million active users on G+ at the end of 2012 – this is second only to Facebook.

Secondly, the majority of those users would class themselves as technologically savvy. G+ users tend to know their stuff.

And then there is the Google Hangout: this feature enables you to have live video chats with up to nine other people. There is an option to record your hangout and subsequently add it to YouTube for the entire world to see. Businesses can use this to record webinars, host workshops, post FAQ, announcements and more…

If you pop over to Google and do a quick search for a local business, be that a restaurant, a computer repair shop, or a local plumber, you’ll notice that nestled amongst the top listings are businesses with Google reviews. If you do anything online you cannot ignore Google. And, naturally enough, Google rewards businesses who are active on G+. Basically, if you are interested in SEO you need to have a Google Plus business page.

Another bonus point to this social network over the others is for their use of ‘circles’ – these enable you, as a business, to tailor your messages to a highly specific audience rather than a generic communication to all of your ‘followers’.

And finally there are communities; join a few of these based either on your target audience, your niche sector, or even your personal tastes, and your messages are broadcast to everyone else within the community rather than only those within your circles.

Lorelei Gibb is Marketing Director at www.dolphinupgrades.com