Google+ for Business: Summary of Series

It’s almost been two full years since Google+’s official launch, and many businesses are still wondering how to use it in their social media marketing plan. 

This article is part of a six part series by Wishpond. We explore the business benefits of the social media platform, Google+, and how it can help your online marketing efforts.

Google+ Summary of Series

Google+ may not look like the social media network of the future right now, but there’s no denying its potential for businesses. To quickly recap the rest of the last couple of blog articles, we’ll go over the main benefits of using Google+ for Businesses.

Google+ Business Pages

• The profile page of your company, similar to a Facebook Business page.
• Make sure you add a strong cover page and tagline, as well as fill in all the required fields.
• Getting your Business page verified can have some great benefits, such as Vanity URLs.

Google+ Circles

• Allows you to separate and classify your followers into distinct “circles.”
• Information can be distributed to Circles separately, allowing different groups to see different posts.
• Business pages can only add followers to its circles if they have been added first.
• Business pages has both internal and external applications.

Google+ Communities

• Mostly resemble traditional internet message boards or forums.
• Allows you to directly communicate with your followers.
• Useful for:
• Getting feedback on new ideas.
• Finding trending topics.
• Establish homegrown experts.
• Serve as customer service hubs.

Google+ Hangouts

• A video conferencing platform that allows up to ten people to converse with each other.
• Can be used as a business tool through (but not limited to):
• Product demonstrations.
• Customer service.
• Information sessions.
• New technology like Symphonical and Hangouts on Air add even more business value to Google Hangouts and differentiates it from its competitors.

Google+ Search Engine Optimization

• Google automatically ranks “authentic” content higher on its search results.
• Tying your content to Google+ can significantly increase its authenticity.
• Getting a Google Authorship will increase the authenticity and search ranking of all posts you connect to your Google+ account.
• The +1 button is very important!  The more your pages have been +1’d, the higher ranked they will be on the search ranking.

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